On 13 September 2018 the National Health Commission (NHC) released the Circular regarding Issuing National Health Medical Big Data Standards, Safety and Service Management Measures (For Trial Implementation).(1)

The circular provides guidelines regarding the standards and security of Big Data in the healthcare industry, as well as service management measures. In terms of formulating the national standard, the NHC has encouraged different entities – such as medical institutions, scientific and educational bodies, relevant enterprises and guilds and social groups – to take part; citizens, legal persons and other organisations have also been encouraged to give suggestions in this regard.

As the circular is considered to mark the Cybersecurity Law's implementation in the healthcare industry, most of its security measures are derived from the law, including:

  • data classification and the back up and encryption of important data;
  • a graded network security system;
  • disaster recovery back up of important systems and databases;
  • security reviews;
  • electronic identity authentication and monitoring; and
  • an information notification system (including early warnings).

As regards service management, the circular sets out the obligations of responsible units regarding the generation, collection, storage, use, transmission, sharing, exchange and destruction of Big Data. Notably, healthcare-related Big Data must be stored in China. Where such data must be transferred abroad for business reasons, a security assessment must be carried out in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations.

For further information on this topic please contact Samuel Yang or Yang Chen at AnJie Law Firm by telephone (+86 10 8567 5988) or email ([email protected] or [email protected]). The AnJie Law Firm website can be accessed at www.anjielaw.com.

Endnotes

(1) Further information is available here.

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