---
title_en: "Provisions on the Scope of Necessary Personal Information for Common Types of Mobile Internet Applications"
title_zh: "常见类型移动互联网应用程序必要个人信息范围规定"
abbreviation: "Necessary PI Scope Provisions"
hierarchy: "rule"
issuing_body: "Secretariat of the Cyberspace Administration of China, General Office of MIIT, General Office of the Ministry of Public Security, and General Office of SAMR"
adopted_date: 2021-03-12
effective_date: 2021-05-01
status: "effective"
source_url: "https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-03/22/c_1617990997054277.htm"
related_laws: ["pipl", "app-illegal-pi-collection-identification-method", "mobile-app-information-services-provisions", "telecom-internet-user-pi-protection-provisions"]
domains: ["personal-information", "app-compliance"]
url: https://datacompliancechina.com/laws/app-necessary-pi-scope-provisions/
summary: "These Provisions, issued jointly by the CAC, MIIT, MPS, and SAMR in March 2021 and effective May 1, 2021, define 'necessary personal information' as the minimum data indispensable for an app's basic functional service to operate — and expressly prohibit operators from refusing basic service to users who decline to provide non-necessary personal information. The Provisions enumerate 39 common mobile app categories (including map navigation, ride-hailing, instant messaging, online shopping, mobile banking, and more), specifying the precise personal information each category may require; 12 of the 39 categories — including browsers, input methods, news apps, and short-video apps — require no personal information at all for basic use. Overseas counsel advise on these Provisions when auditing the data-collection practices of apps distributed in China, assessing whether consent gates or account-wall practices are lawful, and preparing for MIIT or CAC enforcement inspections targeting excessive or non-necessary data collection."
---
**Promulgated by:** Secretariat of the Cyberspace Administration of China; General Office of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology; General Office of the Ministry of Public Security; General Office of the State Administration for Market Regulation.
**Document No.:** Guo Xin Ban Mi Zi [2021] No. 14.
**Issued on March 12, 2021. Effective May 1, 2021.**

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**Article 1.** These Provisions are formulated in accordance with the Cybersecurity Law of the People's Republic of China in order to regulate the collection of personal information by mobile internet applications (apps) and to protect the security of citizens' personal information.

**Article 2.** Apps running on mobile smart terminals that collect users' personal information shall comply with these Provisions. Where laws, administrative regulations, departmental rules, or normative documents provide otherwise, those provisions shall prevail.

Apps include application software pre-installed on mobile smart terminals or downloaded and installed thereon, as well as mini-programs developed on the basis of open platform interfaces of application software that users may use without installation.

**Article 3.** For the purposes of these Provisions, "necessary personal information" means the personal information indispensable for ensuring the normal operation of an app's basic functional service — without which the app cannot implement its basic functional service. It refers specifically to personal information on the consumer-side user, and does not include personal information on the service-supply-side user.

**Article 4.** An app shall not refuse a user access to its basic functional service on the ground that the user declines to provide non-necessary personal information.

**Article 5.** The scope of necessary personal information for common types of apps is as follows:

**(1) Map and navigation apps** — basic functional service: "positioning and navigation"; necessary personal information: location information, point of departure, destination.

**(2) Ride-hailing apps** — basic functional service: "online pre-booked taxi services and cruising taxi dispatch services"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. passenger's point of departure, destination, location information, and movement trajectory;
3. payment time, payment amount, payment channel, and other payment information (for online pre-booked taxi services).

**(3) Instant messaging apps** — basic functional service: "providing network instant messaging services in the form of text, images, voice, video, and the like"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. account information: account name, list of instant messaging contacts' account names.

**(4) Online community apps** — basic functional service: "topic discussions, information sharing, and interactive following on blogs, forums, communities, and the like"; necessary personal information: registered user's mobile phone number.

**(5) Online payment apps** — basic functional service: "online payment, cash withdrawal, transfer, and similar functions"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. registered user's name, type and number of identity document, validity period of identity document, and bank card number.

**(6) Online shopping apps** — basic functional service: "purchasing goods"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. recipient's name (or entity name), address, and contact telephone number;
3. payment time, payment amount, payment channel, and other payment information.

**(7) Food delivery apps** — basic functional service: "purchasing food and beverage and delivery services"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. recipient's name (or entity name), address, and contact telephone number;
3. payment time, payment amount, payment channel, and other payment information.

**(8) Postal and courier delivery apps** — basic functional service: "delivery services for letters, parcels, printed matter, and other items"; necessary personal information includes:
1. sender's name, type and number of identity document, and other identity information;
2. sender's address and contact telephone number;
3. recipient's name (or entity name), address, and contact telephone number;
4. name, nature, and quantity of the items being sent.

**(9) Transportation ticketing apps** — basic functional service: "transportation-related ticketing services and itinerary management (such as ticket purchase, rebooking, refund, and itinerary management)"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. passenger's name, type and number of identity document, and passenger type (passenger types typically include child, adult, and student);
3. passenger's point of departure, destination, departure time, train/vessel/flight number, class/cabin grade, seat number (if any), and license plate number and color (for ETC services);
4. payment time, payment amount, payment channel, and other payment information.

**(10) Dating and matchmaking apps** — basic functional service: "dating and matchmaking"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. the dating or matchmaking user's gender, age, and marital status.

**(11) Job-seeking and recruitment apps** — basic functional service: "exchange of job-seeking and recruitment information"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. résumé provided by the job seeker.

**(12) Online lending apps** — basic functional service: "personal loan application services for consumption, daily production and business operations, and working capital needs, implemented through an internet platform"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. borrower's name, type and number of identity document, validity period of identity document, and bank card number.

**(13) Property rental and sales apps** — basic functional service: "publishing individual property listings and renting or selling residential properties"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. basic property information: property address, area/layout, and expected sale price or rent.

**(14) Used-vehicle trading apps** — basic functional service: "exchange of used-vehicle buying and selling information"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. buyer's name, and type and number of identity document;
3. seller's name, type and number of identity document, vehicle registration certificate number, and vehicle identification number.

**(15) Medical consultation and appointment registration apps** — basic functional service: "online consultation and diagnosis, and appointment registration"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. for appointment registration: patient's name, type and number of identity document, and the hospital and department being booked;
3. for consultation: description of the patient's condition.

**(16) Tourism services apps** — basic functional service: "publishing and booking tourism service products"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. traveler's tourism destination and travel dates;
3. traveler's name, type and number of identity document, and contact details.

**(17) Hotel services apps** — basic functional service: "hotel reservations"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. guest's name and contact details, check-in and check-out dates, and name of the hotel being booked.

**(18) Online gaming apps** — basic functional service: "providing online gaming products and services"; necessary personal information: registered user's mobile phone number.

**(19) Learning and education apps** — basic functional service: "online tutoring, online classrooms, and the like"; necessary personal information: registered user's mobile phone number.

**(20) Local lifestyle services apps** — basic functional service: "daily life services such as housekeeping and repairs, home renovation, and second-hand and idle-item trading"; necessary personal information: registered user's mobile phone number.

**(21) Women's health apps** — basic functional service: "health management services for women including menstrual cycle management, pregnancy preparation and childcare, and beauty and body care"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(22) Vehicle usage services apps** — basic functional service: "shared bicycle, shared automobile, and rental automobile services"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. type and number of identity document and driving licence information for users of shared automobile and rental automobile services;
3. payment time, payment amount, payment channel, and other payment information;
4. location information for users of shared bicycle and time-share rental automobile services.

**(23) Investment and wealth management apps** — basic functional service: "investment and wealth management services related to stocks, futures, funds, bonds, and similar instruments"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. investment and wealth management user's name, type and number of identity document, validity period of identity document, and copy of identity document;
3. investment and wealth management user's capital account, bank card number, or payment account.

**(24) Mobile banking apps** — basic functional service: "managing bank accounts, querying account information, transferring funds, and remitting money through mobile smart terminal devices"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. user's name, type and number of identity document, validity period of identity document, copy of identity document, bank card number, and mobile phone number registered with the bank;
3. for transfers: payee's name, bank card number, and account-opening bank information.

**(25) Email and cloud storage apps** — basic functional service: "email, cloud storage, and similar services"; necessary personal information: registered user's mobile phone number.

**(26) Remote conferencing apps** — basic functional service: "providing audio or video conferencing over the internet"; necessary personal information: registered user's mobile phone number.

**(27) Online live-streaming apps** — basic functional service: "continuously providing users with real-time browsing of information in the form of video, audio, text, images, and similar content"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(28) Online video and audio apps** — basic functional service: "searching and playing films, television programmes, and music"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(29) Short-video apps** — basic functional service: "searching and playing videos not exceeding a specified duration"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(30) News and information apps** — basic functional service: "browsing and searching news and information"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(31) Sports and fitness apps** — basic functional service: "sports and fitness training"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(32) Browser apps** — basic functional service: "browsing internet information resources"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(33) Input method apps** — basic functional service: "inputting text, symbols, and the like"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(34) Security management apps** — basic functional service: "scanning for and eliminating viruses, clearing malicious plug-ins, repairing vulnerabilities, and similar functions"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(35) Electronic book apps** — basic functional service: "searching and reading e-books"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(36) Photography and beautification apps** — basic functional service: "photography, beauty filters, and image-enhancement filters"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(37) App store apps** — basic functional service: "searching and downloading apps"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(38) Utility tool apps** — basic functional service: "functions such as calendar, weather, dictionary and translation, calculator, remote control, flashlight, compass, clock and alarm, file transfer, file management, wallpapers and ringtones, screenshot and screen recording, audio recording, document processing, smart-home assistant, and horoscope and personality tests"; no personal information is required to use the basic functional service.

**(39) Performance ticketing apps** — basic functional service: "purchasing performance tickets"; necessary personal information includes:
1. registered user's mobile phone number;
2. performance session and seat number (if any);
3. payment time, payment amount, payment channel, and other payment information.

**Article 6.** Any organization or individual that discovers conduct in violation of these Provisions may report it to the relevant authorities.

Upon receiving such reports, the relevant authorities shall handle them in accordance with law.

**Article 7.** These Provisions shall come into force on May 1, 2021.