MIIT Releases Draft Mobile Terminal App Regulations

On November 18, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) published for public comment Draft Provisional Guidelines for Pre-Installation and Delivery of Mobile Smart Terminal Apps. The deadline for comment submission is December 18. 

The draft regulations contain clauses that restrict products and services from cell phone manufacturers and Internet service providers:

• Cell phone manufacturers and Internet information service providers are forbidden from providing end-user functions unrelated to their core service, and are forbidden from binding their products with unrelated application software
• Without receiving explicit user authorization, cell phone manufacturers and Internet information service providers are forbidden from collecting user information, making certain application software compulsory for users, or sending users information of a commercial nature, or of violating user legal rights in any other way that harms network security
• Cell phone manufacturers and Internet information service providers must ensure that non-fundamental preinstalled application software can be uninstalled