New rules on data privacy of car users take effect

A trial regulation on vehicle data security, among several other new administrative and legal documents, took effect on Friday.

The regulation aims to address increasing security challenges and close loopholes as vehicles become smarter and gain a stronger ability to generate and process data, according to the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) that issued the document.

The document says data operators should avoid collecting excessive data from cars, and protect the privacy of car owners and users.

Operators that collect and process vehicle data in China will have to undergo security assessments if they provide such data overseas for business needs. The data collected from automobiles in China should be stored in China.

Operators must not send data overseas that exceeds the scope approved by security assessments, and should include relevant information in their annual reports on data security, according to the regulation.