Pre-Installed Application Interim Provisions

On December 23, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) released the Interim Provisions on Pre-installation and Distribution of Apps in Mobile Smart Terminals, which goes into effect July 1, 2017. The provisions apply to applications on mobile smart terminals pre-installed by manufacturers, and Internet information service providers’ application distribution services to mobile smart terminals. The provisions are based on the previous draft for comments that was circulated in April 2016.

The new interim regulation requires that organizations must receive user consent before sending electronic commercial information to landlines, cellphones, or personal emails.  Manufacturers and Internet information service providers must also ensure that aside from basic functional software, all apps can be uninstalled and that they will not be reinstalled with software updates. According to the readout, basic functional software is any application software ensuring normal operation of the hardware and operating system of the mobile smart terminals in 4 categories, including basic components of the operating system (internet browser), applications that ensure normal operations (Bluetooth, GPS), basic communication applications (dialing, text message), and application downloading channels (app stores). The regulation also places requirements on how long customer data and billing data must be stored and that app developers must notify all customers of the data that is being collected and used.  
 
The complete readout on Interim Provisions on Pre-installation and Distribution of Apps in Mobile Smart Terminals can be found here.