China Counter-Terrorism Law Takes Effect
The National People's Congress passed China's first Counter-Terrorism Law on December 27, 2015, with the law going into effect January 1, 2016.
Significant changes were made from the previous draft, which was published in late 2014, including:
- Broad data retention and data localization requirements were removed.
- Requirements for pre-installed technical interfaces and filing of cryptographic keys were removed.
Articles 18 and 19 of the final law require telecommunications operators and Internet service providers to provide technical support and assistance, such as technical interface and decryption assistance, to public security organs and state security organs working to prevent and investigate terrorist activities.
Terms of such assistance aren't clearly defined. Clarification of these issues may be provided in forthcoming implementing regulations, as well as the pending Cyber Security Law, a draft of which was released for comment in mid-2015.
