Considerations For Overseas Employers Under China's Personal Information Protection Law

The Personal Information Protection Law ("PIPL" or the "Law") was passed by the People's Republic of China's national legislature on August 20, 2021, and will become effective on November 1, 2021. PIPL, as China's first comprehensive privacy framework, greatly expands the protections and rights for individuals as well as the rules and obligations for processing personal information, similar to that of the California Consumer Protection Act ("CCPA") and the General Data Protection Regulation ("GDPR"). PIPL also imposes hefty fines and penalties for non-compliance,¹ and has broad application for businesses, both in and outside mainland China,² so any business with operations in China should strive to quickly understand PIPL's application and any requirements imposed on them by the Law, even if the business has no actual establishments in China.