Policy Observatory

New Chinese measures define consumer personal information

Mon 26 Jan 2015, 11:38

On January 5, 2015, the State Administration for Industry and Commerce of the People’s Republic of China published its Measures for the Punishment of Conduct Infringing the Rights and Interests of Consumers (the “Measures”). The Measures contain a number of provisions defining circumstances or actions under which enterprise operators may be deemed to have infringed the rights or interests of consumers.

According to Article 11, “consumer personal information” refers to “information collected by an enterprise operator during the sale of products or provision of services, that can, singly or in combination with other information, identify a consumer.” Article 11 also provides a list of specific examples of “consumer personal information,” including a consumer’s “name, gender, occupation, birth date, identification card number, residential address, contact information, income and financial status, health status, and consumer status.”

While this definition applies only in relation to consumer personal information, it is an instructive milestone in the continuing emergence of China’s sector-by-sector patchwork of rules and regulations governing the collection and use of personal information.

Tags: personal data, consumer personal information, consumer protection, definition, regulation

FCC raises threshold for high-speed internet

Thu 29 Jan 2015, 22:20

The Federal Communications Commission on Thursday changed the definition of broadband to increase the threshold speed. In a 3-2 vote, the commission approved a measure that increases the minimum standard for broadband speed, giving the agency more power to force internet service providers to improve their service. The definition of broadband is set to be raised from 4 megabits per second (Mbps) to 25Mbps for downloads and 1Mbps to 3Mbps for uploads.

Tags: Internet, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), ISP, definition, speed, broadband

UK government issues first definition of computer hacking by spies

Fri 6 Feb 2015, 21:20

The British government has for the first time offered an official definition of computer hacking by the security services. The definition can be found in the Home Office “draft equipment interference code of practice” released on Friday.

Tags: security services, electronic communications, intelligence, definition, hacking

Spanish political parties agree on draft law broadening the concept of terrorism

Mon 16 Feb 2015, 12:29

In the context of the undergoing Spanish Criminal Code reform, PSOE and PE, two major political parties in Spain, agreed on a law proposal on terrorism which include provisions about the Internet. This happened despite critics saying that the section on terrorism should be left out of the Criminal Code reform.

Tags: Internet, Criminal Code, law proposal, Spain, reform, definition, terrorism

Last-minute push on net neutrality

Thu 19 Feb 2015, 01:00

Advocates of strong net neutrality rules have generated more than 1 million messages to the FCC or Congress since the beginning of 2015 via the Battleforthenet.com website. “You can’t buy public opinion,” Evan Greer, campaign director of digital rights group Fight for the Future, said during a press briefing Wednesday. “We very clearly have won in the sphere of public opinion.”

The FCC is scheduled to vote on new rules that would reclassify broadband as a regulated utility on Feb. 26, and with agency rules mandating a week-long quiet period on lobbying before then, groups on both sides of the long-running debate were making last-minute pitches.

Tags: battlefortheinternet.com, public opinion, definition, broadband, FCC, vote, net neutrality