Promulgated by: Ministry of Civil Affairs; Publicity Department of the CPC Central Committee; Commission for Political and Legal Affairs of the CPC Central Committee; Cyberspace Administration of China; Supreme People’s Court; Supreme People’s Procuratorate; Ministry of Education; Ministry of Public Security; Ministry of Justice; Ministry of Culture and Tourism; National Health Commission; National Radio and Television Administration; Office of the National Working Committee on Children and Women under the State Council; All-China Federation of Trade Unions; Central Committee of the Communist Youth League; All-China Women’s Federation; China Disabled Persons’ Federation; National Working Committee on Caring for the Next Generation.
Document No.: Min Fa [2024] No. 67.
Issued and effective November 18, 2024.
Article 1. These Measures are formulated pursuant to the relevant provisions of the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China, the Law of the People’s Republic of China on the Protection of Minors, and the Cybersecurity Law of the People’s Republic of China, in order to regulate the use of the personal information of children in distress, protect the security of the personal information of children in distress, and safeguard the lawful rights and interests of children in distress.
Article 2. For the purposes of these Measures, “children in distress” means children as defined in accordance with the relevant policies of the State Council on strengthening the protection of children in distress.
Article 3. “Personal information of children in distress” means various kinds of information recorded on paper, electronically or by other means that can, alone or in combination with other information, identify a child in distress, excluding anonymized information.
Article 4. Where relevant departments process the personal information of children in distress by means of collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, disclosure, deletion and the like, they shall do so in accordance with the law, follow the principle of “whoever is in charge is responsible, whoever processes is responsible”, and take strict protective measures.
Article 5. Cyberspace administration departments shall perform their supervision and administration responsibilities, guide network operators in strengthening the screening and investigation of online information, promptly take effective measures to correct the disclosure or leakage of the personal information of children in distress upon discovery, and properly handle the matter in conjunction with the relevant departments.
Article 6. Local Party committees’ commissions for political and legal affairs, people’s courts, people’s procuratorates, public security organs, judicial administrative departments, legal service institutions and the like shall, in such work as case investigation, evidence collection, examination and prosecution, legal supervision, judicial adjudication, legal aid, lawyer representation, and the release of typical cases, properly protect, in accordance with the law, the personal information of children in distress involved in cases.
Article 7. Civil affairs departments shall protect, in accordance with the law, the personal information of children in distress when organizing and implementing social assistance, charitable support and care services. They shall supervise and guide child welfare institutions, minor assistance and protection institutions, relevant social organizations and their staff, as well as child supervisors and child directors, in raising their awareness of information protection.
Article 8. Education departments shall supervise and guide schools in implementing the various provisions concerning the protection of students’ privacy, and shall not, in such work as rewards, funding and charitable donations, leak the relevant information of children in distress and their families, and shall protect, in accordance with the law, the personal information of children who have suffered sexual assault, violence or the like.
Article 9. Health departments shall supervise and guide medical and health institutions, relevant industry organizations and the like in strengthening medical ethics and conduct education, guide practicing physicians and other medical personnel in abiding by professional ethics, and protect, in accordance with the law, the personal information of children in distress who are ill or who seek medical treatment after suffering sexual assault, violence or the like.
Article 10. Where trade unions, the Communist Youth League, women’s federations and working committees on caring for the next generation at all levels, as well as relevant social organizations and volunteers, need to process the personal information of children in distress during the conduct of family-education guidance and child-care service activities, such processing shall be limited to the minimum extent and scope necessary for carrying out the activities, and corresponding protective work shall be properly carried out.
Article 11. Disabled persons’ federations at all levels shall, in their work, strengthen the protection of the personal information of children in distress, so as to avoid unfair treatment of children in distress caused by the leakage of personal information such as disability status.
Article 12. Relevant departments shall regulate the processing of the personal information of children in distress, and shall not disclose or leak the personal information of children in distress in violation of the provisions.
The processing of the personal information of children in distress under the age of 14 shall be subject to the consent of the child’s parents or other guardians, and strict protective measures shall be taken.
The processing of the personal information and other related information of children in distress who have reached the age of 14 shall be subject to the consent of the child in distress obtained in accordance with the law, and the child’s parents or other guardians shall be informed in an explicit manner. Where a child in distress is unable to express his or her wishes due to physical or mental health or other reasons, the consent of the child’s parents or other guardians shall also be obtained.
Article 13. Where any organization or individual publishes communications, news or the like that involve the specific identity of a child in distress, it shall inform in advance the necessity and the impact on personal rights and interests, and may publish such content only after obtaining the consent of the child in distress and his or her parents or other guardians in accordance with the law, while properly carrying out technical processing.
Article 14. When producing, importing or broadcasting various kinds of books, newspapers and periodicals, films, radio and television programs, or online information involving children in distress, the publicity, cyberspace, culture-and-tourism, and radio and television departments shall strictly review and strictly control them, and shall not disclose the names, home addresses, portraits, voice and video recordings, schools attended, or other content of children in distress that may have an adverse impact on them. Where this is genuinely necessary for work, technical processing shall be properly carried out.
Article 15. No organization or individual may label children in distress, use the personal information of children in distress to attract attention or chase traffic, or use the personal information of children in distress for fundraising, live-stream commerce or the like.
Article 16. Where a personal-help online service platform needs to disclose relevant information because a child in distress seeks help through it, the matter shall be handled in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations such as the Charity Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Measures for the Administration of Personal-Help Online Service Platforms.
Article 17. A child in distress and his or her parents or other guardians shall have the right to inquire of the relevant units and organizations about the child’s personal information that they process. Where objections are raised, the relevant units and organizations shall fully respect them, promptly investigate and verify the matter, and take effective disposal measures.
Article 18. Where the personal information of children in distress is processed in violation of the provisions of these Measures, infringing upon the lawful rights and interests of children in distress, the matter shall be disposed of in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China and other relevant provisions.