Posted by Warc News on 12 March 2014
BEIJING: The Chinese government should introduce new laws as
soon as possible to protect internet users' personal information, the chairman
and CEO of Lenovo, the electronics company, has warned.
Yang Yuanqing, head of the world's largest PC maker, told
legislators in China that personal information leaks could happen
"anywhere anytime, without us knowing it" and the absence of
effective legislation constituted a serious challenge to data safety.
Speaking at the annual session of the National Committee of
the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference, he said regulation is
required to "raise the bar of safety standards for smartphone apps and
streamline the information technology market," China Daily reported.
His intervention came as statistics from the Internet
Society of China showed financial losses caused by leaks of personal
information amounted to roughly 150bn yuan ($24.4bn) in 2013 and that almost
two-thirds (65.5%) of websites in China have had security flaws.
Meanwhile, a report released at the end of February by the
China Internet Network Information Center (CNNIC) revealed almost
three-quarters (74.1%) of domestic internet users were victims of information
leaks in the second half of 2013.
Jiang Yaoping, a member of CNNIC and the nation's former
vice minister of commerce, said the rise of e-commerce as well as online
bookings for travel and services via mobile devices could put users'
information at risk.
"Although it is considered safe in many cases, we
should also be discerning and learn to screen those out where our bank account
information could be easily stolen," he told China Daily.
Yang's call for action coincides with evidence that the
smart technology sector is continuing to grow exponentially in China.
CNNIC has calculated that the country had over 500m mobile
internet users by the end of last year while Gartner, the technology research
firm, has forecast that a further 400m smartphones will sold in the country
this year with penetration rates reaching up to 95% of the population.
Data sourced from China Daily; additional content by Warc
staff
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