China Issues Draft Rules To Curb Unfair Competition, Restrict Use of User Data

phalse phace writes: Chinese regulators on Tuesday issued a lengthy set of draft regulations for the internet sector, banning unfair competition and restricting the use of user data, the latest move in a crackdown on the country's powerful tech companies.

According to a document published on China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) website, business operators should not use data, algorithms or other technical means to hijack traffic or influence users' choices. They may also not use technical means to illegally capture or use other business operators' data.

The regulator also said firms cannot use technological means to maliciously impose incompatible barriers to other legal internet products and services. It added that in cases involving violations, third-party institutions may be hired to audit data. The proposed regulations come after SAMR imposed various restrictions and punishments on tech giants in an effort to restrict anti-competitive or monopolistic behaviour.

is this good or bad?

[dknj]

user data in the hands of corporations will be abused. so the government steps in to prevent abuse, except now the only abuser is the government.

i honestly don't know which one is worse, probably the government because at least with corporations you have the appearance of choice

Re:is this good or bad?

[ChatHuant]

i honestly don't know which one is worse, probably the government because at least with corporations you have the appearance of choice

Well, it's not like it was an either/or choice. The govt will spy on you no matter what, whether you're in China or somewhere else. So the real choice is between having your data abused by both the government and corporations, or by the government only. I believe govt only is the less bad alternative.

Moreover, I'm pretty convinced any data collected by corporations also ends up shared with the government, willingly or not. And corporations have shown an amazing ingenuity in stealing your information, always coming up with new ways to spy on you and to extract info from the collected data. I doubt the government, powerful as it may be, can replace all this - so, by blocking the corporations from gathering data, the government is also cutting off one of its own sources.

Re:

[John.Banister]

If only the government spies on you, then you will be punished for attempting to defend yourself against spying. If corporations also spy on you then you have an excuse for deliberately misleading those who spy.

Re:is this good or bad?

[suss]

The Chinese Communist Party was the abuser all along. Nothing in China happens without their knowledge and approval. This is just another case of "Look, we're doing something about the shit we've done, really guys! Buy more of our stuff again!"

Re:

[fazig]

Really weird if you consider they're still pursuing their social credit system.
One source: https://algorithmwatch.org/en/... [algorithmwatch.org]

Of course that's only abuse in our Western eyes. In their own eyes they're only doing the right thing. And they can't do wrong. (beware of sarcasm).

My best guess, these are regulations that are not aiming to protect the privacy of the citizens, but are part of that "overhaul" the article I linked above is talking about, all under the guise of protecting the privacy of their peopl

Of Course!

[kaatochacha]

According to a document published on China's State Administration for Market Regulation (SAMR) website, business operators should not use data, algorithms or other technical means to hijack traffic or influence users' choices.

Of course. That choice belongs to the state. Never let anyone muscle in on your turf.

Were companies starting to track The Party?

[rapjr]

Maybe all those tech companies were using their data to track communist party members and that is why the party is suddenly creating restrictions. Plus some of the new restrictions make the population less susceptible to influence operations via social media. So this does seem like a power preserving move, plus a way to reduce exposure in cyberwar.

How is the gov't going to abuse data if they can't

[tekram]

..if the gov't can't collect the data? 'business operators should not use data, algorithms or other technical means to hijack traffic or influence users' choices.' It doesn't look like the government can ever collect these consumer choices if the website doesn't collect it. And if there is no incentive to collect the data, why should the corporation collect the data unless there is a statute requirement?

Re:

[Aighearach]

..if the gov't can't collect the data?
'business operators should not use data, algorithms or other technical means to hijack traffic or influence users' choices.'
It doesn't look like the government can ever collect these consumer choices if the website doesn't collect it. And if there is no incentive to collect the data, why should the corporation collect the data unless there is a statute requirement?

Let me repeat the part of what you quoted that you ignored:

to hijack traffic or influence users' choices.

Why the fuck do you think that collecting data to give it to the government, but not being allowed to use it themselves for anything, somehow leaves the government without the data? Do you understand that the government is also part owner of the business if it chooses to be? Are you really this stupid, or do you need to retract your claim?

Competition

[Archangel Michael]

Government hates competition. They are the only legal criminal enterprise.

And so

[Impy the Impiuos Imp]

We in the US and Europe are apparently more concerned if companies look through our stuff to see if we are more interested in Pampers or Depends, but government filtching is fine.

let this be a lesson -

[swell]

If you or your company don't 'support' your government, your government won't support you. Your representative (lobbyist) must foster good relationships with legislators! Otherwise, companies in the West might have to forgo monopolistic behavior, egregious appropriation and marketing of people's personal information, and crushing competitors by underhanded methods.

But, you'll say, China! This can't happen here. Say it isn't so!

Fortunately in the West, freedom means that Companies can do whatever they want,

Ultimate Hypocracy

[petronyista]

"Unfair competition" by a government that systematically crushes enterprises it doesn't like (when it isn't jailing or killing political dissidents) is a big fat joke.
The CCP, with all of its monstrosities, is quite blind to it's own deep fundamental inconsistencies.
So is Silicon Valley tech, which likes to bow to the CCP while claiming to uphold pro-western values.
But fear not: Mother Nature doesn't allow anyone to get away with deep fundamental inconsistencies for too long.

Chinese communist party

[hdyoung]

sets rules to, get this, restrict monopolistic practices.

Nope. Wasnt able to say it with a straight face.

Wow, what a...

[sajavete]

... show! For a millisecond there, I believed something that they said.

source

[fulldecent]

Can I please have a link to the source documents? i.e. the proposed draft regulations?