Previously, in July, the Ministry of Public Security and the Cyberspace Administration of China released a draft regulation on “National Network ID Authentication”.

The apps have recently started allowing the use of virtual identities (IDs) created by the system to register and log in to user accounts. The regulator plans to collect public feedback from now until August 25.

The draft regulation says that network ID authentication aims to “reduce the excessive collection and retention of citizens’ personal information by Internet platforms when users are required to register with their real names.”

Accordingly, Chinese Internet users can register for virtual IDs “on a voluntary basis” to verify their identity online without disclosing sensitive personal information, such as ID numbers, to platforms.

The process of applying for a virtual ID involves using a regulated app to read the physical ID card, perform facial recognition, link to a phone number registered in China and create an eight-digit password.

In addition to ID cards, applicants for virtual IDs can also use documents such as passports, travel documents, and permanent resident IDs for foreign citizens living and working in the mainland.

Popular apps such as photo-editing platform Meitu, as well as merchant terminals on Alibaba's Taobao and Tmall, Meituan and ByteDance-owned Douyin, have added new login options for virtual IDs, SMCP said.

Previously, Tencent and Alibaba also issued policies requiring users to authenticate their identities when their accounts were identified as showing signs of “abnormality”. Tencent owns the super app WeChat with more than 1.3 billion monthly active users (MAU), while Alibaba’s Taobao also has more than 887 million MAU.

Shen Kui, a law professor at Peking University, said a unified network ID would simplify the authentication process in online transactions and reduce the possibility of misuse of personal information. However, the downside is that it would create a centralized surveillance system that could comprehensively track and analyze an individual's online footprint.

(According to SCMP)

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