In what is being seen as a counter to American sanctions on Chinese apps, the Foreign minister of China, Wang Yi, has announced proposals concerning global data security. Yi has marked rules that will bar foreign governments from obtaining data that is stored domestically in any country through imposing restrictions. China is terming these as Global Data rules in an effort to present a global clout in the data security industry.
The new proposal suggests that Chinese firms won’t be required to share data from its overseas operations, preventing violations of the laws of the respective countries. The companies are not to build paths in their apps and services that can illegally steal users’ or personal data.
The ministry said, “Information technology wouldn’t be used to damage other countries’ critical infrastructure or steal important data”. It has also called for measures to stop the infringement of personal data and advises that technology shouldn’t be used to conduct large scale surveillance of other nations. The proposal says, Judicial help is to be utilized if a cross-border data retrieval is required by any law enforcement.
The Chinese government, under its ‘Global Initiative on Data Security’, looks to establish a collaboration among countries to handle data security in a ‘comprehensive, objective and evidence-based manner’.
Wang said in a statement, ” To reduce the deficit in global digital governance, countries face a pressing need to step up communication and coordination, build up mutual trust and deepen cooperation with one another”.
The Chinese land itself requires foreign companies operating in China to set up data centers in the country and store data locally. The Chinese believe in the concept of data sovereignty and look to establish the same through their new plan.
China’s efforts to set global standards for data handling across borders comes at a time when it is facing harsh sanctions from across the globe. The Chinese government and firms are being heavily accused of data infringement in other countries and facing the axe for the very same reason. The Trump and Modi administrations have recently banned several Chinese apps from their countries, stating that these apps were violating the privacy laws of their respective nations. The US government also sanctioned Huawei Technologies Co. for sharing American users’ data with Beijing.
