Accoding to China Youth Daily, illegal disclosure of Chinese citizens' personal data will be sued as criminal offence in Chinese courts.

On 26th August 2008, Chinese People's Congress, the Parliament, has adopted draft revisions of "Criminal Law" to regulate the handling of citizens' personal data.

In China, a mother who has given birth to a child is often chased by a telephone call for sales of baby milk powder immediately after leaving the hospital and going back home. Buyers of mobile phones are chased for all sorts of sales promotions immediately after the purchase of the phone. Citizens complain about such harassments and are feeling strong about illegal disclosure of their personal data.

Furthermore, there have been cases of illegal disclosure of personal data by public institutions which have come to possessions of such data in exercise of their public functions. This poses as a grave threat to the citizen's personal physical safety, security of their property.

The revised Criminal Law (7th Revision) provides that public officials and staff of state authorities or financial, telecommunications, education, transport, medical institutions who obtain citizens' personal data and then sell such data or illegally provides such data to others, or steal such data or obtain such data in other illegal manners will be liable to criminal offence and can be sentenced up to three years in prison or compulsed for community labour.

Internet violence such as the popular "human flesh search" is much more serious than a simple illegal disclosure of personal data. The practice has gone far beyond a simple moral condemnation and seriously inflict on citizen's basic legal rights. It is a violation of a citizen's human rights.

According to deputy Zhu Zhigang, the internet has developed so fast that one can not wait for a separate law on personal information and data protection. It would be too late and offences of personal integrity and basic human rights would be too rampant if the country does not act immediately. Therefore, China's legislature has decided to take advantage of the criminal law revision to tighten up the loopholes of internet as a potential area of human rights violations.