Will data be collected from or processed in or stored in China?
Explanation
Data sovereignty involving China is the concern here: whether any data is collected from, processed in, or stored within China. It specifically references China's Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), which is China's comprehensive data privacy regulation that came into effect in November 2021.
Why this matters in a security assessment:
1. Regulatory Compliance: China's PIPL imposes strict requirements on organizations handling personal information of individuals in China. Non-compliance can result in significant penalties.
2. Cross-Border Data Transfer Restrictions: PIPL places stringent restrictions on transferring personal information outside of China, including security assessments, certifications, and standard contractual clauses.
3. Data Localization Requirements: In some cases, PIPL requires that certain types of data must be stored within China's borders.
4. Additional Security Measures: Organizations handling data in China may need to implement specific security controls to comply with Chinese regulations.
5. Risk Assessment: The organization conducting the assessment needs to understand if your operations involve Chinese data to evaluate compliance risks and potential legal exposure.
The reference to "PIPL Chapter 1 for definitions" points you to the specific legal definitions of what constitutes personal information and processing under Chinese law.
When answering this question, be specific about:
- Whether you have any operations, servers, or data centers in China
- If you collect data from Chinese residents or businesses
- If you process data in China (even if collected elsewhere)
- If you use Chinese cloud providers or data processors
- Any measures you've implemented to comply with PIPL if you do handle Chinese data
Guidance
See PIPL Chapter 1 for definitions.
Example Responses
Example Response 1
No, our organization does not collect data from, process data in, or store data in China Our data centers are located in the United States and the European Union only We do not target Chinese customers or users, and our services are not marketed or available in China We have implemented geolocation filtering to prevent access from Chinese IP addresses, and our data processing agreements with third-party vendors explicitly prohibit the transfer or processing of our data in China.
Example Response 2
Yes, our organization does collect, process, and store data in China We maintain a data center in Shanghai that serves our Asia-Pacific customers, including those in China To comply with PIPL requirements, we have implemented the following measures: (1) Appointed a dedicated data protection officer for our Chinese operations; (2) Conducted a comprehensive PIPL compliance assessment with the assistance of local legal counsel; (3) Updated our privacy policies and consent mechanisms specifically for Chinese users; (4) Implemented data localization for all personal information collected from Chinese residents; and (5) Established a process for responding to data subject rights requests from Chinese individuals We also maintain separate instances of our applications for Chinese users to ensure data segregation.
Example Response 3
No, we do not currently collect, process, or store data in China However, we do have Chinese customers who access our cloud-based services Since our services are hosted exclusively in AWS data centers in North America and Europe, and we do not have any physical presence or employees in China, we believe we are not directly subject to PIPL requirements We recognize this is a potential compliance gap, and we are currently consulting with legal experts to determine if our current approach meets PIPL requirements or if additional measures are needed If it is determined that we need to implement additional controls, we will develop a compliance roadmap within the next quarter.
Context
- Tab
- Privacy
- Category
- International Privacy
Related questions
- Will data be collected from or processed in or stored in the European Economic Area (EEA)?
- Do you have a data protection officer (DPO)?
- Will you sign appropriate GDPR Standard Contractual Clauses (SCCs) with the institution?
- Do you comply with PIPL security, privacy, and data localization requirements?
