A draft of the General Principles of the Civil Law was submitted to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for a second review on Monday. The draft has added a provision prohibiting any organization or individual from collecting, using, possessing or transmitting personal information without authorization and makes it illegal to provide, release or sell personal information without the owner's permission.

In recent years, there have been increasing incidents of people acquiring others' personal information and selling it, which has seriously harmed people's right to privacy.

Such behavior and the harm it brings to society have drawn wide public concern, and many legal experts, organizations and the public have appealed for stronger legislation to combat it.

In fact there are more than 200 provisions in China's current laws and regulations that involve personal information protection. But they are not systematic and even contradict each other, which undermines their effectiveness.

The incorporation of this new provision in the civil code would mean people's personal information would be better protected by the law.