On May 9, 2017, the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate held a press conference to release the Interpretations of the Supreme People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Several Issues Concerning the Application of Law in the Handling of Criminal Cases Involving Infringement of Citizens' Personal Information (the "Interpretations"), which will be effective from June 1, 2017.
To protect citizens' personal information, in 2009, the crimes of "illegally selling or providing of the personal information of citizens" and "illegally acquiring the personal information of citizens" were added in Amendment VII to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China. In 2015, Amendment IX to the Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China combined the two crimes into one, the "infringement of citizens' personal information." The Interpretations set forth more practical conviction and sentencing criteria for the infringement of citizens' personal information and mark a milestone for the criminal protection of citizens' personal information.