Latest news with #PersonalInformationProtectionLaw
New Indian Express
5 days ago
- Politics
- New Indian Express
Chinese university expels female student after relationship with a foreigner
BEIJING: A Chinese university announced the expulsion of a female student for 'damaging national dignity' after she was accused of 'improper interactions' with a foreign man, generating heated discussions across Chinese social media about whether the university had gone too far. Over the last several days, the expulsion has drawn thousands of comments on platforms such as Xiaohongshu and Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, many of which question whether the school has the right to judge her personal life and elevate it to a matter of national import. In an announcement posted last week, Dalian Polytechnic University in the country's northeast declared that the student would be 'expelled" in 60 days, saying she violated the university rule against 'having improper interactions with foreigners that damage national dignity." 'Your misbehaviors on December 16, 2024, caused a terrible negative impact,' the announcement said, without giving details on what constituted the 'misbehaviors." The university released her name, but AP is not publishing it out of privacy concerns. The incident taps into multiple issues in China The university's actions illustrate a number of issues percolating in modern Chinese society, including discussions around gender bias and a full-on push toward nationalism. Chinese internet users have connected the accused university student to videos posted by Danylo Teslenko, also known as Zeus, a professional Ukrainian gamer showing him being intimate with an Asian-looking young woman in a hotel room. AP cannot independently verify if the woman in the video is the student. Some on social media called the school's decision to expel the student a sign of the 'Taliban style,' by which a particular nation or group claims ownership over a woman's body. Others call it misogyny, asking if a Chinese man would be considered a 'national pride' if he had sex with a foreign woman. The Paper, a state-run newspaper in Shanghai, said it was not just 'inappropriate' to publish the student's full name but also "may even violate the Personal Information Protection Law.' 'It is improper to graft private affairs onto the public domain for public disposal,' said The Paper. Teslenko, the gamer, confirmed on Sunday that he posted 'a few videos on Telegram with a girl I met in Shanghai' but later deleted them 'as soon as I understood the seriousness of the situation,' according to his post on X, formerly known as Twitter. 'Our faces were visible, but there was no explicit content or anything disrespectful in those videos,' the post said, 'I have never said that Chinese girls are easy.' Media reports said Teslenko and the student met at the final of the Perfect World Shanghai Major, a gaming competition held in December 2024. An email sent to Dalian Polytechnic University was not immediately answered.
Yahoo
23-03-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
China says facial recognition should not be forced on individuals
BEIJING (Reuters) - China's cyberspace regulator on Friday published regulations governing the use of facial recognition technology, separately stating that individuals should not be forced to verify their identity using such technology. China is at the forefront of facial recognition technology, which is deployed by all levels of its public security apparatus to track down criminals, as well as monitor dissenters, petitioners and ethnic minorities. The new rules do not mention security authorities' use of facial recognition technology. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) said the regulations were published in response to growing concerns within society about the risks the widespread use of facial recognition technology posed to data privacy. "Individuals who do not agree to identity verification through facial information should be provided with other reasonable and convenient options," CAC said on its website. It specified that the regulations were aimed at curbing increasingly common practices such as using facial recognition technology for hotel check-ins or to enter a gated community. The regulations, approved by China's Ministry of Public Security and due to take effect in June, emphasise the need for companies collecting data from facial recognition cameras to ensure they only process an individual's facial data after obtaining their consent. The regulations did not specify how this would apply in public spaces but noted that signs should be on display wherever facial recognition technology is deployed, a practice already widespread in Chinese cities. Home-grown companies like Sensetime and Megvii invest tens of millions of dollars every year researching and developing the latest AI-driven visual imaging technologies that are fuelling increasingly sophisticated facial recognition software. The spread of facial recognition technology into everyday life in China has led to an increase in societal anxiety about privacy in recent years. A survey conducted in 2021 by a think tank affiliated with state-run media outlet The Beijing News found that 75% of respondents were concerned about facial recognition and 87% opposed the use of the technology in public places of business. In July 2021, China's Supreme Court banned use of the technology to verify identities in public places like shopping malls and hotels, and allowed for residents to request alternative methods of verification to enter their neighbourhood. In November that year, the Personal Information Protection Law took effect, mandating user consent for the collection of facial data and imposing heavy fines on non-compliant companies.
