Law must circumscribe tech use: China Daily editorial

By and large, people in China are more accepting of new technology than their foreign counterparts.

Most people subscribe to the assumption that the personal information that is constantly collected through the use of new technologies will not be misused, so long as it does not fall into the hands of criminals.

To most, the trade-off between the acquisition of apparently "insignificant" personal information and greater convenience and security in everyday life is one they are willing to make.

But taking advantage of the pandemic, particularly in the name of the need for infection tracing, requests for personal information have become pervasive with facial identification equipment installed at entrances to public venues, residential compounds, grocery stores, even real estate dealerships.

This has prompted some to consider the potential risks of casually surrendering personal information. A potential homebuyer in Nanjing, Jiangsu province, wore a motorcycle helmet to protect himself from the facial identification equipment at a real estate dealership, stirring up nationwide discussions about the deployment of artificial intelligence technologies and whether they pose a threat to civil rights and liberties.

In the light of the risks of AI and big data crunching being abused, a number of local authorities have issued rules to restrict the collection and use of personal information of citizens and the deployment of facial recognition technology.

A consumer sued a wildlife safari park in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, for its unauthorized use of facial recognition technology. And won.

Now, the ongoing meeting of the 13th National People's Congress Standing Committee is discussing these issues while reviewing a draft law on personal information protection, which makes special provisions for handling sensitive personal information including personal biological information.

It is to be hoped that in the process any undefined gray areas will be eliminated which could otherwise render null and void the law's requirement that sensitive personal information could be collected and processed only with specific purposes and sufficient necessity, and after conducting risk assessments in advance.

The development and application of new technologies always requires purpose and necessity to be weighed in the balance against the risk of abuse. Therefore, the transition from should it be regulated to how it should be regulated demands careful deliberation.

New technologies are effective in fulfilling their intended purposes. But because of their noncontact intrusiveness are easily abused, only strict regulatory constraints can prevent that.