The Benefits and Challenges of the Guideline for Filing of the Standard Contract

Summary

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• New guidelines provide important practical clarity for companies which need to follow the recently promulgated Measures on Standard Contract for Overseas Transfer of Personal Information
• Although the new process may be simpler in certain respects, the scope and complexity of the Personal Information Assessment is wider
• Companies must be prepared for an increased compliance burden, and to secure full cooperation from the overseas data recipient

On May 30, 2023, two days before the Measures for the Standard Contract for Overseas Transfer of Personal Information (个人信息出境标准合同办法, the "Measures on Standard Contract") become effective, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) published the Guidelines for the Record Filing of Standard Contracts for the Overseas Transfer of Personal Information (First Edition) (个人信息出境标准合同备案指南（第一版）the "Filing Guideline"). Since the promulgation of the Measures on Standard Contract in February 2023, businesses and data compliance practitioners have been expecting the CAC to issue detailed requirements and instructions on filing of the standard contract for overseas transfer of personal information (known as PI).

The Filing Guideline not only provides procedural requirements for the filing, but also gives a template for the required PI protection impact assessment report (the "PIA Report"). Under the Measures on Standard Contract, a PIA Report should be submitted to the provincial cyberspace administration when a PI handler files a standard contract for the record.