How the China Personal Information Protection Law Applies to Foreign Asset Managers

Since China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) came into effect in November 2021, there has been widespread uncertainty amongst offshore fund managers and investors with entities outside Mainland China as to how and whether the regime applies to them. Given the potential for foreign asset managers to overlook or misinterpret PIPL, this brief update outlines some guidance as to how PIPL can apply, and to whom, in a practical context.

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Understanding China’s Data Regulatory Regime: China Solicits Public Comments on Certification Rules for Cross-Border Data Processing Activities

Certification by a professional institution is one of the mechanisms permitted under China’s Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL) to legitimize cross-border transfers of personal information. Other permitted mechanisms include governmental security review and standard contractual clauses to be issued by the Chinese government. However, to date, there have been no clear rules on the criteria and procedures for obtaining the PIPL certification. (more…)

Understanding China’s Data Regulatory Regime: What Are Important Data? And Can They Be Transferred Outside Of China?

The concept of “important data” is a cornerstone of China’s data regulatory regime. The Cyber Security Law (2017) (the CSL) prohibits operators of critical information infrastructures (CIIs) from transferring their “important data” and personal information outside of China. The Data Security Law (2021) (the DSL) and some recent draft regulations indicate that the prohibition on exports of “important data” is likely to apply to all companies, whether CII operators or not.

Then, what are “important data”? (more…)

5 Global Data Protection Trends To Watch In 2022

*This article was first published by Law360 on January 3, 2022.

A recent discussion with Elizabeth Denham and Claudia Berg of the U.K. Information Commissioner’s Office provided ample food for thought on the direction in which data protection regulation both in the U.K. and internationally is headed, including key trends to watch for in data protection.

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Guidelines Published for Changes to the Singapore Data Privacy Regime

On November 20, 2020, the Singapore Personal Data Protection Commission (PDPC) published a set of draft advisory guidelines (the Advisory Guidelines) to provide clarification on recent amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act (the PDPA Amendments). We have summarized the PDPA Amendments in our previous client Update. The Advisory Guidelines address operational details on key amendments, as summarized below.

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Important Changes to the Singapore Data Privacy Regime

On November 2, 2020, Singapore’s legislature finally approved amendments to the Personal Data Protection Act (PDPA). The changes become law once a government gazette is passed (possibly before the end of 2020). If you operate in Singapore, handle Singapore data, or maintain a server in Singapore, it is crucial that you have protocols in place to guide employees on what to do when a data breach occurs and consider doing a data breach tabletop exercise. (We have organized a number of these drills for clients in preparation for breach notification requirements in Australia and now Singapore.) (more…)