CHINA Law and Practice Contributed by: Jihong Chen, Zhong Lun Law Firm
organisation’s apps engage in practices such as unauthorised PI collection, excessive permission requests, etc.
• compensation for damages. Regarding non-material damage, Article 1183 of the Civil Code stipulates that where an infringement upon an individual’s personal rights and interests causes serious mental damage, the infringed party has the right to claim compensation for mental damages. Observing cases of typical PI disputes, published by the courts, in some instances courts have supported compensation for mental damage. The prerequisite for supporting such a claim is that the infringement upon PI-related rights has resulted in serious mental distress, which must exceed the tolerance limit of an ordinary person. The amount of compensation should correspond to the severity of the mental distress and is determined flexibly by the courts based on the spe - cific circumstances of each case. 2.2 Recent Case Law In August 2025, the Supreme People’s Court released guiding cases on the judicial protection of data rights and interests, addressing issues of high public con - cern such as the determination of data ownership and PI protection, thereby unifying the adjudication stand - ards for similar cases. In one case where an individual sued an app for excessively collecting users’ PI, the app required the submission of user profile information such as edu - cational stage and English proficiency level, without providing options such as “skip” or “refuse”, nor offer - ing alternative login methods for users who disagreed with providing such information. The court held that user profile information did not constitute necessary PI for the app to provide its basic functional services. Therefore, the legal basis of “necessary for contract conclusion or performance” was not applicable, and consent should have been obtained. The app’s design forced users to check the “agree” box for using the app. Such “consent” was given involuntarily and thus did not constitute valid consent. 2.3 Collective Redress Mechanisms Article 70 of the PIPL establishes the mechanism of public interest litigation for PI infringement. Where any PI handler illegally processes PI, which infringes upon the rights and interests of a large number of individu - als, a lawsuit may be brought to the court by:
2. Privacy Litigation 2.1 Privacy Litigation Overview
Over the past 24 months, privacy and data-related disputes adjudicated by Chinese courts have exhib - ited a notable trend characterised by a surge in case numbers and a refinement of adjudication rules. First, there has been a marked increase in the number of data-related cases heard by the courts. According to announcements by the Beijing Internet Court, it received a total of 113 cases related to PI protection disputes between October 2023 and October 2024. In contrast, merely 58 such cases were handled by the same court in the past five years leading up to 2023. Secondly, adjudication rules are becoming more unified and clearer: to address difficulties in judicial practice, the Supreme People’s Court, in August 2025, issued for the first time a series of guiding cases on the judicial protection of data rights and interests, establishing uniform adjudication standards for core issues such as data ownership and PI protection. Claimant Types and Common Causes of Action In China, the majority of PI protection litigation cases are public interest litigation brought by procurato - rial organs and consumer organisations. China also allows individuals to initiate private litigation, and the legal bases for an individual to initiate private litigation mainly include the Civil Code, the Consumer Protec - tion Law, the CSL and the PIPL. Common causes of action include: • collecting, disclosing or providing PI without con - sent; • excessive PI collection; • PI leakage; and • exercising PI rights, etc. Typical Remedies and Non-Material Damage Typical remedies for privacy disputes include: • cessation of infringement; • apologies; and
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