When Chinese authorities initiated a cybersecurity review of ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing, it marked another move in a widening crackdown on the country’s technology industry.
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But it was also a unique case: Didi was the first company to be subjected to such a review in China, signalling that authorities are getting serious about how companies collect, store and use data.
China has long sought to shield its domestic internet from outside influences with a policy it calls “cyber sovereignty”, but a slate of new laws and regulations are forcing companies – both foreign and domestic – to keep data related to local customers and operations inside the country.
In addition to various laws governing data localisation, the new Data Security Law, in effect as of Wednesday, is the country’s first law designed to limit the methods of processing and using data. This will have wide-ranging implications for how tech companies operate in China.
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Here is a look at China’s cross-border data rules, why they are being enforced now, and what they mean for tech giants and their users.
