China’s central bank further strengthens protection for personal credit data: media report

The headquarters of the People's Bank of China, March 13, 2018. (Photo/Xinhua)

People's Bank of China (PBC) will further strengthen protection for personal credit data as internet platforms are prohibited to provide personal information directly to financial institutions and platforms, according to media reports.

The credit reference center of the PBC issued notices recently, requiring online platforms and institutions not to directly provide personal information obtained or generated from users to financial institutions for purposes including application information, identity, basic information, identity markers, and rating information while attracting traffic to such platforms, the cnstock reported on Monday.

Online platforms overly collecting personal information and violating privacy laws have been widely criticized by the public.

According to the cnstock, there have been rising concerns over internet platforms charging financial institutions service fees and information fees leading to an increase in financing costs, with some large internet platforms charge rates as high as 6%-7%.

China’s financial regulators summoned 13 internet finance firms which have fintech businesses including encent, Du Xiaoman Finance owned by Baidu, JD Finance, ByteDance, Meituan Finance and Didi Finance in April for strengthening anti-monopoly supervision and preventing disorderly expansion of capital. The collection of personal information was emphasized during the talks, with internet firms being required to strengthen the protection mechanism on consumers, including regulating how personal information is collected, marketed and the text to be used for standard contracts.