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ARTICLE · 23 JUNE 2020

A Step In The Right Direction: Enhanced Protection For Privacy And Personal Information In The PRC New Civil Code

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After much anticipation, the Civil Code was passed by the PRC National People's Congress on 28 May 2020, and will come into force on 1 January 2021.

Hong KongPrivacy
Gabriela Kennedy
Gabriela Kennedy
Cheng Hau Yeo
Cheng Hau Yeo
Christopher C. H. Ng
Christopher C. H. Ng
Samantha Cheung
Samantha Cheung
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Introduction

After much anticipation, the Civil Code was passed by the PRC National People's Congress on 28 May 2020, and will come into force on 1 January 2021. An extensive piece of legislation, the Civil Code contains 1260 articles and a section on the "Right of Privacy and Personal Information Protection", which extends the current scope of protection of privacy and personal information.

Privacy and Personal Information

The Civil Code sets out separate requirements pertaining to (i) the right of privacy and (ii) personal information protection in the PRC.

(I) RIGHT OF PRIVACY

The Civil Code provides that all natural persons enjoy the right of privacy, which is defined as the private life, space, activities and information that one is unwilling to disclose to others. This is the first time that the right of privacy is defined in a statute in the PRC – although the existing General Provisions of Civil Law (implemented in 2017) cited the right of privacy,

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