Experts call for stronger global data security

Governments and industries around the world need to better protect data security and personal information and ensure the rule of law in cyberspace, senior officials and information technology industry experts said on Sunday.

Liu Liehong, vice-minister of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said data has become an important national resource that can drive the development of the economy and society.

Big data, cloud computing and artificial intelligence have become the new and inevitable technological trends and people are paying more attention to the security, management and collection of data, especially the data security of children, he said at a sub-forum during the ongoing sixth World Internet Conference in Wuzhen, Zhejiang province.

To better protect data security, countries around the world should intensify cooperation in strengthening rule of law, risk management and global governance of data protection, he said.

Zhao Dacheng, vice-minister of the Ministry of Justice, said there are about 4.5 billion internet users around the world and they have generated a large amount of data, which is valuable.

However, the development of big data also faces many risks and challenges, and the prevention of data breaches and misuse has become a common concern facing humanity, Zhao said.

More than 100 countries worldwide have introduced guidelines and laws on personal data protection, and China has also issued relevant laws and regulations on cyberspace security and personal data protection, he said.

"We should legalize data protection to ensure the flow and sharing of data under the rule of law. We should also improve the legal framework on data protection so that the development of big data can bring more benefits to all people."

David Alfred, chief counsel of Singapore's Personal Data Protection Commission, said as people spend more time online, there is a proliferation of collection, use and transfer of personal data and organizations have been allowed to collect an unprecedented amount of data.

While big data delivers undeniable benefits to organizations and consumers, it also raises concerns among consumers and they may feel they have lost control over personal data in an increasingly interconnected and complex world, he said.

As companies optimize the benefits of technology, consumers need to be able to have more control over their data and trust the companies that are making use of them, he added.

Liang Zhixiang, vice-president of Chinese tech giant Baidu, said AI has evolved from just a concept several years ago to something highly intertwined with people's lives.

AI has enabled personalized products and services, including targeted content recommendation, intelligent retail, precision medicine and big data credit, he said.

"However, people are concerned that improved personalization also means the death of privacy, coerced consent when using mobile applications and manipulation of users."

To address these concerns, society as a whole should establish a healthy data privacy ecosystem, work together to establish legal norms and compliance guidelines that can be easily implemented, push for technological innovation and strengthen data security technology research and development.