Photo: Yang Hui/GT

China's Central Cyberspace Affairs Commission said that personal information gathered for epidemic and disease prevention efforts amid the coronavirus outbreak is not to be used for other purposes.

According to the recent notice issued on privacy protection and big data used to support combined efforts for disease prevention, companies and individuals are prohibited from disclosing a person's name, age, ID information, phone number, or home address without prior consent. 

Personal information gathered for prevention and control efforts is excluded. 

The notice also said that collecting necessary personal information for combined efforts with epidemic prevention and control must comply with national regulations on personal information security and adhere to the principle of minimum coverage. 

In principle, information collection targets are limited to confirmed and suspected patients and their close contacts. 

Institutions that gather and hold personal information should take responsibility for individual information and implement strict management and technical protection measures to prevent information theft and data leaks. 

Organizations and individuals that illegally collect, use, or disclose personal information should be reported to cyberspace authorities and public security department officials promptly.