China: Closing of consultation on administrative measures for data security including cybersecurity measures

On 30 October 2021, the Chinese Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) closed its public consultation on the measures for the administration of data security in the field of industrial and information technology. The measures are aimed to regulate data processing activities pursued by the industrial and telecom sectors, creating a classification of data composed of three categories: "core", "important", and "ordinary". The companies shall submit the list of retained "important" and "core" data to the MIIT and are not allowed to move “core" data out of China. Additionally, the regulation introduces the obligation to destroy data when it is necessary to protect national security and social and public interests and prohibits the building of user portraits through data mining or data combination, without the explicit consent of the user. The consultation period was opened on 30 September 2021.