China's top legislature mulls Internet regulatory measures

 BEIJING, Dec. 24 (Xinhua) -- The top legislature on Monday began deliberating a draft decision that will strengthen the protection of personal information online by requiring Internet users to identify themselves to service providers.

The move is intended to better protect Internet users' privacy and provide a legal basis for safeguarding online information safety to ensure the healthy and orderly development of the Internet, according to a spokesman for the Standing¹ Committee of the National People's Congress (NPC).

The draft decision, submitted to the bimonthly session of the NPC Standing Committee, says authorities will protect digital information that could be used to determine the identity of a user or that concerns a user's privacy.

The draft decision proposes the adoption² of an identity management policy requiring Internet users to identify themselves to service providers, including Internet or telecommunications operators.

"Such identity management could be conducted backstage, allowing users to use different names when publicizing information," Li Fei, deputy director of the Commission for Legislative³ Affairs of the NPC Standing Committee, told lawmakers on Monday.

Li Yuxiao, an expert on Internet management and law studies at the Beijing University of Post and Telecommunications, said it would be "empty talk" to discuss protection rights for individuals under the condition of complete anonymity⁴.

The identity management policy enables people to "protect their lawful⁵ rights by providing real names while building an environment of free exchange under anonymity," Li said.

The draft decision also empowers supervising departments to take necessary measures to supervise Internet activities.

Citizens who find online information that infringes⁶ upon their own rights have the right to demand service providers to take necessary measures to stop such information from being provided, it says.

The draft decision specifies⁷ norms and duties for network service providers during the collection, use and protection of people's personal digital information.

Network service providers, other government-sponsored institutions and companies, as well as government agencies and their personnel, should strictly⁸ ensure the protection of personal digital information, it says.

To tackle surging public complaints regarding spam messages, the draft bans organizations and individuals from sending business-related digital information to people's mobile phones or email addresses without their consent.

The draft also encourages the public to report illegal activity involving online information to supervisory departments.

LAGGING LAWS"The development of new information technology, including mobile Internet, the Internet of Things (IOT) and cloud computing⁹ in recent years has posed severe challenges to information security," Li said.

Behind China's increasing online scams, fraud, identity theft and libel has been a rapidly growing Internet industry and a frail¹⁰ system of laws for personal information protection, according to Li.

China's estimated number of Internet users mushroomed to more than 538 million as of June this year from about 620,000 in 1997, statistics from the China Internet Network Information Center (CINIC) showed.

Setting legal curbs¹¹ on online information transmission has been a common practice worldwide. More than 90 countries and regions have special laws regarding the protection of personal information.

Zhou Hanhua, a law research fellow at the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the regulations in the draft decision are not detailed¹² enough.

"It did not specify¹³ function or power division among network supervisory departments. These need to be further specified¹⁴ in the future," Zhou said.

1 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

2 adoption   

n.采用，采纳，通过；收养

参考例句：

• An adoption agency had sent the boys to two different families.一个收养机构把他们送给两个不同的家庭。
• The adoption of this policy would relieve them of a tremendous burden.采取这一政策会给他们解除一个巨大的负担。

3 legislative   

n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的

参考例句：

• Congress is the legislative branch of the U.S. government.国会是美国政府的立法部门。
• Today's hearing was just the first step in the legislative process.今天的听证会只是展开立法程序的第一步。

4 anonymity   

n.the condition of being anonymous

参考例句：

• Names of people in the book were changed to preserve anonymity. 为了姓名保密，书中的人用的都是化名。
• Our company promises to preserve the anonymity of all its clients. 我们公司承诺不公开客户的姓名。

5 lawful   

adj.法律许可的，守法的，合法的

参考例句：

• It is not lawful to park in front of a hydrant.在消火栓前停车是不合法的。
• We don't recognised him to be the lawful heir.我们不承认他为合法继承人。

6 infringes   

v.违反（规章等）( infringe的第三人称单数 )；侵犯（某人的权利）；侵害（某人的自由、权益等）

参考例句：

• Congressmen may be reluctant to vote for legislation that infringes the traditional prerogatives of the states. 美国国会议员可能不情愿投票拥护侵犯各州传统特权的立法。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• I can't say whether CP21 infringes it or not. 我就不能说CP21是否侵犯了SPOT的专利。 来自企业管理英语口语（第二版）(2)

7 specifies   

v.指定( specify的第三人称单数 )；详述；提出…的条件；使具有特性

参考例句：

• The third clause of the contract specifies steel sashes for the windows. 合同的第三款指定使用钢窗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The contract specifies red tiles, not slates, for the roof. 合同规定屋顶用红瓦，并非石板瓦。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 strictly   

adv.严厉地，严格地；严密地

参考例句：

• His doctor is dieting him strictly.他的医生严格规定他的饮食。
• The guests were seated strictly in order of precedence.客人严格按照地位高低就座。

9 computing   

n.计算

参考例句：

• to work in computing 从事信息处理
• Back in the dark ages of computing, in about 1980, they started a software company. 早在计算机尚未普及的时代（约1980年），他们就创办了软件公司。

10 frail   

adj.身体虚弱的；易损坏的

参考例句：

• Mrs. Warner is already 96 and too frail to live by herself.华纳太太已经九十六岁了，身体虚弱，不便独居。
• She lay in bed looking particularly frail.她躺在床上，看上去特别虚弱。

11 curbs   

v.限制，克制，抑制( curb的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• In executing his functions he is not bound by any legal curbs on his power. 在他履行职务时，他的权力是不受任何法律约束的。 来自辞典例句
• Curbs on air travel were being worked out and would shortly be announced. 限制航空旅行的有关规定正在拟定中，不久即将公布。 来自辞典例句

12 detailed   

adj.详细的，详尽的，极注意细节的，完全的

参考例句：

• He had made a detailed study of the terrain.他对地形作了缜密的研究。
• A detailed list of our publications is available on request.我们的出版物有一份详细的目录备索。

13 specify   

vt.指定，详细说明

参考例句：

• We should specify a time and a place for the meeting.我们应指定会议的时间和地点。
• Please specify what you will do.请你详述一下你将做什么。

14 specified   

adj.特定的

参考例句：

• The architect specified oak for the wood trim. 那位建筑师指定用橡木做木饰条。
• It is generated by some specified means. 这是由某些未加说明的方法产生的。