Legislation is needed to protect personal information, says an article in Beijing News. The following is an excerpt:

A wireless media technology company has the personal information of half of the 500 million mobile phone users in the country. The information includes users' gender, age and consuming power, so that it can send spam messages. Take this company's Zhengzhou office for example, it sends 200 million messages on average to mobile users every day.

The public has every reason to be concerned about the issue of how to protect their personal information. And it also shows that the illegal spreading of personal information has already become a professional, commercialized operation, which threatens every one of us. After you purchase a house, decoration companies easily find you to sell their products. After you give birth to a child, baby products companies may call you. Once your computer is contaminated by a virus, your banking account and e-mail password are easily stolen. The rampant spreading of personal information has left us no privacy.

At this year's annual sessions of the NPC and the CPPCC, many deputies and members submitted proposals for the protection of personal information. In fact, the public has been calling for protection for a long time. And, three years have now passed since the first draft of a protection law was completed.

Personal information is privacy. Privacy is a basic human right and should be respected. The stealing of this information is no less than stealing one's personal assets.

(China Daily March 18, 2008)