EFA Joins Others in Comments on the Chinese Draft Standard Contract Provisions

Standard Contract Provisions are a key tool for data privacy regulations. They allow a company that is doing business and using personal data to export that data under the national data privacy laws. For example, a South African ecommerce company could collect, store, and use personal data from (in this case) China so long as it had signed up to the Chinese Standard Contract Provisions and promised to treat the Chinese data in the same way as the Chinese privacy law requires. The Cyberspace Authority of China drafted Standard Contract Provisions under China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) and invited comments. EFA has joined with 16 other associations from around the world, coordinated by the Global Data Alliance, to present views to the Chinese regulator.

The comments include a request that the Chinese align better with international privacy standards for cross-border processing of data; the associations are concerned that the Chinese rules on disqualifying applicants for these Standard Contracts are too wide and could be used to exclude bone fide applicant companies; the letter requests that the format is in line with existing Chinese privacy regulations and does not add issues which are not yet clearly defined; the letter also notes that the duration of these Standard Contracts is not clear, among other points. For a copy of the letter please contact me [email protected]  (we have the letter in both English and Chinese).