Under a law passed in March, companies must ensure with the Chinese regulator that their algorithms fall within the regulatory framework.
“At the moment, the authorities have not explicitly asked companies to modify their algorithms,” Angela Zhang, a specialist in Chinese law at the University of Hong Kong, told AFP. “The regulators, at the moment, are collecting information,” she adds.
On the other hand, on Friday, the Chinese Cyberspace Administration published for the first time details of the use that technology companies make of their algorithms.
The leader in online commerce, Alibaba, recommends, for example, new products based on users’ browsing and search history.
The short video app douyin (the version of TikTok for the Chinese market) makes recommendations based on the time people spend on each piece of content.
The algorithms, the basis of the digital economyare the engine of a good part of the applications and services for Internetso companies often keep them secret.
With these tools it is possible to analyze large amounts of data about a user and automate recommendations according to their practices or habits.
Given this opacity, the authorities seek to better define the legislation of algorithms.
For two years, the authorities in China have been particularly intransigent with the sector of technology companies, which they monitor for practices, until then, widely extended.
Several large companies were fined in this regard for data protection abuses personal, competence and rights of users.
Last month, Didi, China’s leading chauffeur-driven vehicle (VTC) company, was fined $1.215 million for violating data protection rules.
Source: Ambito
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