---
title: "PIPL automated decision-making and personalized recommendations"
canonical_url: "https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/automated-decision-making-and-personalized-recommendations"
source_url: "https://www.sorena.io/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/automated-decision-making-and-personalized-recommendations"
author: "Sorena AI"
description: "PIPL checks for automated decisions, personalized recommendations, marketing, differential treatment, explanations, refusal rights, and impact assessments."
published_at: "2026-07-05"
updated_at: "2026-07-24"
keywords:
  - "China PIPL"
  - "Personal Information Protection Law"
  - "Data export"
  - "Standard contract"
  - "App privacy"
---
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# PIPL automated decision-making and personalized recommendations

PIPL checks for automated decisions, personalized recommendations, marketing, differential treatment, explanations, refusal rights, and impact assessments.

*Privacy* *China*

## China Privacy Law PIPL automated decision-making and personalized recommendations

Article 24 applies when personal information is used to make decisions automatically. The required control depends on whether the system pushes information or marketing, changes transaction terms, or makes a major solely automated decision.

If a system uses personal information to analyze or assess behavior, habits, interests, finances, health, credit, or another characteristic and then makes decisions automatically, treat it as automated decision-making under PIPL. Article 24 requires transparency and fair, impartial results, prohibits unreasonable differential treatment in transaction terms such as price, and gives additional choices for recommendations, marketing, and major solely automated decisions.

## Definitions

### Automated decision-making under PIPL

**Term:** automated decision-making

Automated decision-making is the use of computer programs to automatically analyze or assess a person's behavior, habits, interests, finances, health, credit status, or similar characteristics and then make a decision. The legal test turns on the use of personal information, automated analysis or assessment, and a resulting decision, not on whether the system is marketed as artificial intelligence.

**Why it matters here:** Every covered automated decision must meet Article 24 transparency, fairness, and impartiality duties. Information pushes and commercial marketing, unreasonable differential transaction terms, and solely automated decisions with a major effect on rights or interests each add a different control.

Sources:

- [PRC Personal Information Protection Law, Articles 24 and 73](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-08/20/c_1631050028355286.htm?ref=sorena.io)

## Classify the feature before choosing the control

Inventory any feature that profiles, scores, ranks, recommends, targets, prices, approves, rejects, flags, or allocates using personal information. Examples can include a personalized product feed, a credit or fraud score, a price or discount rule, or an eligibility decision; the actual inputs and decision path determine coverage. Record the decision made, the input categories, the people affected, whether a person meaningfully participates, and the likely effect on rights or interests.

Article 24 contains three related rules. All automated decision-making must be transparent and produce fair and impartial results. Automated information pushes and commercial marketing must also offer either a non-personalized option or a convenient refusal method. A solely automated decision with a major effect on rights or interests gives the individual a right to an explanation and a right to refuse that solely automated decision.

- Recommendation or marketing owner: provide the alternative or refusal where the output is an information push or commercial marketing. Test that the control is easy to find and changes subsequent processing.
- Transaction owner: test whether similarly situated people receive different prices or other transaction terms, and document why any difference is reasonable and connected to a legitimate processing purpose.
- High-impact decision owner: determine whether the decision materially affects eligibility, access, finances, work, health, safety, or another right or interest and whether it is made only through automation.
- Human-review owner: a nominal approval is not enough evidence of meaningful human involvement. Record what information the reviewer sees, what authority the reviewer has, and whether the reviewer can change the outcome.

Sources for this answer:

- [PRC Personal Information Protection Law](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-08/20/c_1631050028355286.htm?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 24 and 73 define automated decision-making and establish transparency, fairness, differential-treatment, non-personalized-option or refusal, explanation, and solely automated decision-refusal rules.

## Apply the ordinary PIPL duties too

Article 24 does not replace the rest of PIPL. Choose an Article 13 processing condition, give the Article 17 notice, collect only what is directly related and necessary, keep it for the shortest necessary period, support individual rights, and apply Article 51 security measures.

Complete a PIPIA before using personal information for automated decision-making. The assessment must address legality, legitimacy, necessity, effects on individual rights, security risks, and whether safeguards are lawful, effective, and proportionate. Keep the PIPIA and processing record for at least three years. PIPL has applied since 1 November 2021 and does not provide a general grandfathering exception for an automated feature that already existed on that date.

- Data owner: record the source, accuracy, relevance, and sensitive-information status of each input. Sensitive personal information requires the separate Article 28-30 analysis.
- Product owner: explain the purpose and practical effect in clear language. Do not describe the system so generally that a person cannot understand what choice or consequence is involved.
- Rights owner: define intake, verification, response, explanation, refusal, complaint, and escalation steps. PIPL does not set one universal explanation format or response deadline for Article 24 requests.
- Vendor owner: if a vendor processes personal information on instructions, include Article 21 terms and supervision; if the vendor independently decides purpose and method, assess the separate-recipient duties.
- Monitoring owner: retest inputs, outputs, refusal behavior, non-personalized options, overrides, complaints, and differential outcomes after material model, rule, data, purpose, or population changes.

Sources for this answer:

- [PRC Personal Information Protection Law](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-08/20/c_1631050028355286.htm?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 5-8, 13, 17, 21, 28-30, 44-56, and 59 establish processing conditions, notice, data quality, sensitive-information, rights, security, vendor, and PIPIA duties that also apply to automated decisions.

## Evidence for launch and ongoing review

A reviewer should be able to reconstruct the feature, legal analysis, implemented control, and observed outcome. Keep source facts and test results together so a later change does not leave the PIPIA or notice describing an old system.

- Feature record: purpose, owner, affected population, inputs, data sources, output, decision path, human role, recipients, retention, and consequences.
- Article 24 record: transparency copy, non-personalized option or refusal design, explanation procedure, solely automated decision-refusal procedure, and differential-treatment testing.
- PIPIA record: risks to rights and interests, security risks, selected safeguards, residual risk, approver, date, and at least three years of retention.
- Operating record: refusal and option tests, explanation requests, reviewer decisions, overrides, complaints, incidents, fairness monitoring, and material changes.
- Boundary: this page cannot decide whether an effect is major or whether human involvement is meaningful without the product's facts, decision consequences, and actual reviewer authority.

Sources for this answer:

- [PRC Personal Information Protection Law](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-08/20/c_1631050028355286.htm?ref=sorena.io) - Articles 24, 50, 55, and 56 support the Article 24 control record, convenient rights mechanism, pre-processing PIPIA, and three-year minimum retention.

*Put the requirement into practice*

*Placement: Before primary sources*

## Prepare the PIPL and data export evidence file

Assign owners, implement the Article 24 controls, and keep the feature, PIPIA, tests, requests, and changes connected.

- [Map official sources to evidence](/solutions/research-copilot.md): Research Copilot connects the official citation, decision, owner, retained evidence, and change history.
- [Review the China route](/contact.md): Check the China Privacy Law scope decision and unresolved launch questions with Sorena.

## Primary sources

- [PRC Personal Information Protection Law](https://www.cac.gov.cn/2021-08/20/c_1631050028355286.htm?ref=sorena.io) - Binding source for the automated decision-making definition, Article 24 controls, ordinary processing duties, rights, PIPIA, and record retention.

## Related Topic Guides

- [App minimum necessary personal information by category](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/app-minimum-necessary-personal-information-by-category.md): App category mapping page for common mobile app necessary personal information scope, using only categories supported by the official source.
- [China app personal information minimization](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/app-personal-information-minimization.md): How to map app category, basic functions, and necessary personal information under China mobile app personal-information rules.
- [China data export security assessment workflow](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/data-export-security-assessment-workflow.md): Workflow for screening data export security assessment triggers, materials, owners, and evidence records.
- [China personal information cross-border transfer routes](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/cross-border-transfer-routes.md): Compare China's current data-export exemptions, CAC security assessment, standard contract, and personal information protection certification routes.
- [China personal information standard contract filing workflow](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/standard-contract-filing-workflow.md): Workflow for the PIPL standard contract route, assessment, filing package, and cited evidence.
- [China PIPL compliance checklist](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/checklist.md): China PIPL compliance checklist covering scope, processing bases, notices, sensitive information, rights, vendors, impact assessments, incidents, and exports.
- [China PIPL deadlines and compliance calendar](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/deadlines-and-compliance-calendar.md): Calendar China PIPL effective dates, recurring audits, privacy-officer reporting, impact-assessment retention, and data export filing and renewal deadlines.
- [China PIPL penalties and enforcement exposure](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/penalties-and-fines.md): Understand PIPL corrective orders, serious-violation fines, responsible-person exposure, civil claims, public-interest actions, and data export enforcement.
- [China PIPL privacy notice and consent checklist](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/privacy-policy-and-consent-checklist.md): China PIPL checklist for privacy notices, valid consent, separate consent, sensitive information, children under 14, withdrawal, and rights requests.
- [China PIPL requirements](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/requirements.md): China PIPL requirements from scope and processing basis through notices, rights, security, impact assessments, incidents, vendors, and data exports.
- [China PIPL vs CCPA/CPRA: Requirements Compared](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/china-pipl-vs-ccpa-cpra.md): Compare PIPL and CCPA/CPRA scope, consent and opt-out rules, rights, assessments, data exports, breach duties, and penalties.
- [China PIPL vs EU GDPR: Requirements Compared](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/china-privacy-law-vs-gdpr.md): Compare PIPL and GDPR scope, roles, legal bases, rights, impact assessments, breach deadlines, international transfers, and penalties.
- [China PIPL vs Singapore PDPA: Requirements Compared](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/china-privacy-law-vs-singapore-pdpa.md): Compare PIPL and Singapore PDPA scope, roles, consent alternatives, rights, breach duties, overseas transfers, and penalties.
- [China Privacy Law FAQ](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq.md): Practical answers on China's PIPL: scope, legal bases, sensitive information, separate consent, vendors, PIPIA records, app minimization, and export routes.
- [How should vendor contracts handle entrusted processing under PIPL?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/how-should-vendor-contracts-handle-entrusted-processing.md): A PIPL entrusted-processing contract must define the purpose, duration, method, personal-information categories, safeguards, and both parties' duties. See the required terms and supporting records.
- [Is PIPL the same as GDPR?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/is-pipl-the-same-as-gdpr.md): No. China's PIPL and the EU GDPR overlap on core privacy controls, but differ in territorial scope, legal bases, roles, sensitive data, impact assessments, and transfer routes.
- [PIPL breach response and notification](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/breach-response-and-notification.md): PIPL incident workflow for immediate remediation, authority and individual notices, the narrow individual-notice exception, vendor coordination, and evidence.
- [PIPL cross-border transfer route selector](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/pipl-cross-border-transfer-route-selector.md): Step-by-step selector for China's data-export exemptions, CAC security assessment, standard contract, and personal information protection certification.
- [PIPL entrusted processing and vendor contracts](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/entrusted-processing-and-vendor-contracts.md): How to document entrusted processing, vendor responsibilities, contract controls, and evidence under PIPL.
- [PIPL impact assessment template](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/personal-information-protection-impact-assessment-template.md): Template fields for a China personal information protection impact assessment and export/entrusted-processing evidence.
- [Sensitive personal information and separate consent under PIPL](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/sensitive-personal-information-and-separate-consent.md): How to identify sensitive PI triggers, separate consent, minors, additional safeguards, and evidence records.
- [What counts as sensitive personal information in China?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/what-counts-as-sensitive-personal-information-in-china.md): PIPL uses a harm-based test for sensitive personal information and lists examples such as biometrics, health, financial accounts, location traces, and all personal information of children under 14.
- [What is separate consent under PIPL?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/what-is-separate-consent-under-pipl.md): Separate consent under China's PIPL is a distinct consent for a specified processing activity. See when it applies, what notice must come first, and what evidence to keep.
- [What records should we keep for a PIPL impact assessment?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/what-records-should-we-keep-for-a-pipl-impact-assessment.md): A PIPL impact-assessment file should preserve the Article 55 trigger, processing facts, Article 56 analysis, safeguards, decision, and processing record for at least three years.
- [What should an app collect as necessary personal information in China?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/what-should-an-app-collect-as-necessary-personal-information.md): Match the app's basic function to China's 2021 rules and collect no more than the listed necessary personal information. Users must retain the basic function if they decline non-necessary data.
- [When can a company use the China standard contract route?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/when-can-a-company-use-the-china-standard-contract-route.md): Use China's standard contract route only after applying the 2024 exemptions and confirming that no CAC security assessment is required. See current thresholds, filing steps, and change triggers.
- [When does a China PIPL security assessment apply?](/artifacts/apac/china-privacy-law/faq/when-does-a-china-pipl-security-assessment-apply.md): A CAC data export security assessment applies to CIIO exports, important data, and specified high-volume personal-information exports after the 2024 exemptions are applied.


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