The call comes as the country's top legislature is reviewing a draft legal document aiming at protecting personal information online.

 

　　Zhang Ru takes a closer look.

 

　　Ding Ning is an undergraduate student at Beijing Jiaotong University. She says recently she has been annoyed by unwanted calls from unknown callers.

 

　　"I once gave my name and cell-phone number to just one particular overseas education agency. But since then, I have frequently received calls from many other similar agencies. I suspect that my personal information may have been leaked."

 

　　Actually, what Ding has experienced is a daily nuisance for many Chinese, who believe their personal information is being sold to third parties and abused in other ways.

 

　　The problem has grown in recent years along with the increased use of the internet. China currently has more than 500 million internet users, the largest number in the world.

 

　　Tan Guojian, a student at Beijing-based Renmin University, talks about his frustration with the lack of protection of his personal information.

 

　　"I don't know what channels and government departments I should refer to when my personal information is leaked and abused. I just have to tolerate such a situation."

 

　　Yet this situation could change in the near future as the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has been reviewing a draft decision on internet management. The decision will have the same legal effect as a law once it is adopted.

 

　　The draft decision stipulates that authorities will protect digital information that can be used to determine the identity of a user or which concerns a user's privacy.

 

　　It also says network service providers and other government-sponsored institutions and companies should strictly ensure the privacy of personal digital information.

 

　　Zhou Hanhua, a law expert with the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, suggests that the proposed law should focus on the roots of personal information leakage.

 

　　"Judging from international experiences, laws on personal information protection mainly target public institutions and large enterprises. You know, these entities are more likely to obtain and control citizens' personal information while providing service. Compared with other culprits of personal information abuses, public institutions and large enterprises will cause much more serious consequences if they leak and sell personal information."

 

　　Besides these changes, legal experts have also advised internet users to improve their own awareness of safeguarding their own privacy as well as the privacy of others.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Zhang Ru.