An Incheon airport official demonstrates the use of the facial recognition Smart pass service at a departure gate of Terminal 2, Incheon International Airport, Friday. The paperless biometrics system allows passengers to go through departure and boarding gates without having to show their passports and boarding passes. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

An official from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said on Tuesday that facial recognition for online shopping represents excessive collection of the customers' personal information, noting that entities must refrain from collecting unnecessary personal identifiers and related information.

Speaking at a press briefing addressing regulations on the implementation of the Consumer Rights Protection Law, You Xueyun, an official from the CAC, said that the regulations specified that the operators should avoid excessive collection of the consumers' personal information when offering products and services, including one-time general authorization and default authorization. 

Internet platform operators can't force consumers to agree to the collection of their personal information that is not directly related to the firm's trading activities, You said.

China attaches great importance to protecting personal information in business activities and has officially implemented a series of consumer protection regulations, under the umbrella of the new Personal Information Protection Law approved in 2021. Under these laws, business operators are required to protect consumers' personal information.

The implementation of the Personal Information Protection Law has greatly strengthened the legal guarantee of the consumers' personal information and related rights in China.

The regulations stipulate the government regulator supervise the sensitive personal information handling by internet platform operators, which are quested to strictly comply with the provisions of relevant laws and administrative regulations.

The regulations on the implementation of consumer rights protection law will be officially implemented on July 1, acting as an update patch for the Law of the People's Republic of China on Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests.

Global Times