On September 6, 2023, after a 14-month review, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) announced that the private platform China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) was fined RMB 50 million for the unlawful processing of personal data. CNKI is one of the leading academic platforms, digital learning platforms and knowledge bases in China, and its main operators are Tongfang Knowledge Network Technology, Tongfang Knowledge Network Digital Publishing Technology and China Academic Journal (CD-ROM) Electronic Magazine.
The CAC found the following illegal activities in 14 different apps, including Mobile CNKI and CNKI Reader: Violation of the principles of necessary data collection, collection of personal information without the consent of data subjects, failure to publish or clarify data collection and use policies, failure to provide an account deletion option, and failure to delete personal information after users delete their accounts.
Based on the legal regulations such as the Cybersecurity Law, the Personal Information Protection Law and the Administrative Penalty Law, CAC ordered the platform to stop the illegal processing of personal information and imposed the above massive penalty. China is continuously strengthening regulation and enforcement in the field of cybersecurity, data protection and especially personal information protection. Companies are encouraged to strengthen their own data security measures and meet their legal obligations to comply with data protection and data security.
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China Intellectual Property Blog 