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China Privacy Law Sensitive personal information and separate consent under PIPL

Identify , separate-consent requirements, child-data rules, safeguards and retained evidence under PIPL.

Classify by the harm test in Article 28, not only by a field name. Sensitive processing needs a specific purpose, sufficient necessity, strict protection, additional notice, when consent is the processing condition, and a prior impact assessment.

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Author
Sorena AI
Published
Jul 5, 2026
Updated
Oct 15, 2026
3 sections1 primary sources
Overview

under PIPL is information that, if leaked or illegally used, could readily infringe a person's dignity or endanger personal or property safety. Article 28 lists biometrics, religious belief, specific identity, medical and health information, financial accounts, location traces, and all personal information of children under 14. Process it only for a specific purpose with sufficient necessity and strict protection measures, and complete the additional notice, where the processing relies on consent, and impact-assessment steps required by Articles 29, 30, and 55.

Section 1

1. Classify the information and the processing context

Use both the statutory examples and the harm test. A field label alone may be too broad or too narrow: assess what the data reveals, the precision and scale, whether it is combined with other information, who can access it, and the likely result of leakage or illegal use. Record the field-level rationale and the data flow.

All personal information of a child under 14 receives sensitive-personal-information treatment, regardless of whether an adult's equivalent field would otherwise be sensitive. Verify age and guardian flows without collecting more information than the purpose requires.

  • Specific identity can include information that reveals a status or identity with the Article 28 harm potential; do not treat every ordinary identifier as sensitive without applying the test.
  • Location traces are different from a one-off coarse location in some contexts, but precise or combined location data may still meet the harm test. Document the actual precision, frequency, duration, and use.
  • Derived or inferred information can be sensitive when it reveals health, religion, identity, finances, movements, or another condition meeting Article 28.
  • A separate legal or administrative rule may require written consent, an administrative authorization, or another restriction in addition to PIPL.
Section 3

3. Prove necessity, protection, and ongoing control

Complete a personal information protection impact assessment before processing. It must assess legality, legitimacy, and necessity; effects on individual rights and security risks; and whether safeguards are lawful, effective, and proportionate. Keep the report and processing record for at least three years.

  • Necessity record: identify the specific purpose, why less sensitive or less precise information will not work, the minimum people and systems with access, and the shortest necessary retention period.
  • Strict-protection record: map access restrictions, encryption or de-identification where appropriate, logging, monitoring, transfer controls, recipient or vendor safeguards, incident response, deletion, and control owners to the assessed risks.
  • Implementation evidence: retain configuration, access review, test results, notice and consent records, vendor terms, recipient checks, deletion evidence, incident exercises, and approval conditions.
  • Change trigger: reassess classification, necessity, notice, consent, and safeguards before changing purpose, category, precision, scale, source, recipient, vendor, access location, retention, or affected group.
  • If the purpose cannot justify sufficient necessity, or the safeguards do not match the risk, do not begin or continue the sensitive processing.
Recommended next step

Review the sensitive-processing controls

Connect the Article 28 classification and necessity analysis to strict safeguards, notices, consent where required, and the prior impact assessment.

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Primary sources

References and citations

PRC Personal Information Protection Law
cac.gov.cn4 citations
Referenced sections
  • Binding source for the Article 28 classification test, purpose and necessity limits, strict protection, notice, separate and guardian consent, child-specific rules, impact assessment, and record retention.
  • Articles 28 and 32 provide the sensitive-information harm test, representative categories, specific-purpose and sufficient-necessity limits, strict-protection duty, and rule for additional legal restrictions.
  • Articles 14-18, 23, 29-31, and 39 support informed and voluntary consent, withdrawal, notice, separate consent, added sensitive-information notice, guardian consent, dedicated child rules, and distinct disclosure and export steps.
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  • Articles 19, 28, 51, and 55-56 support shortest necessary retention, strict protection, security controls, the prior impact assessment, assessment subjects, and minimum three-year retention.

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Is PIPL the same as GDPR?

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.

What counts as sensitive personal information in China?

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?

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?

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?

Use China's 2021 category rules to identify necessary information for an app's basic function. Keep that function available when users decline non-necessary data.

When can a company use the China standard contract route?

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?

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.