Personal information needs better protection

The latest news from Butian, a major vulnerability response platform online, shows that the social security databases of more than 30 provincial regions are highly vulnerable to external threats, with 52 million accounts exposed to security risks. The key information of maybe 10 million people, including national ID card numbers, social security numbers, salaries and household registrations could be hacked. Comments:

A regulation passed by the National People's Congress Standing Committee in 2012 requires government agencies that collect personal information of citizens to protect it. However, it fails to set any penalties for those responsible should there be an information leak. As a result, no one is held answerable to the vulnerability of these databases. Legally speaking, if the leak of personal information might lead to severe property and other losses for citizens, that can be considered an accident and the officials of responsible government agencies should be punished according to the law on work safety.

Zhu Wei, associate professor on communication law at the China University of Political Science and Law, April 22

If enough information is collected about someone, that person's privacy and identity is at risk. The law only says in general that personal information should be protected. What information should be kept confidential, and what penalties should be given to those who obtain information illegally and trade in it is not specified. Proper legislation is needed so that personal information gets ample legal protection.

Yangtze Daily, April 23

With the fast developments in the Internet technology, new vulnerabilities have emerged. The government alone has proved unable to protect people's personal information, so it is time to allow social organizations and enterprises to play a bigger role. Butian that reported the recent vulnerabilities is such a platform, but we need more.

xinhuanet.com, April 23