Months after a high-profile incident involving a hidden camera inside a hotel room, the State Council — China’s cabinet — has published new national-level regulations governing video surveillance.

The regulations, formally released Monday and scheduled to take effect from April 1, clarify where the installation of cameras is prohibited, how collected footage can be used, and the enforcement responsibilities of different regulatory bodies.

They come after a spate of high-profile privacy incidents in recent years. In one notable case from last September, a woman found a camera hidden in the air-conditioning duct of her hotel room in Baotou, in China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Hashtags related to the case attracted a million views on microblogging platform Weibo and brought renewed attention to the issue of surveillance devices in private spaces.

According to the new rules, companies and individuals are prohibited from installing cameras in any location where they could be used for eavesdropping or other privacy violations, including hotels, changing rooms, and bathrooms. Violators face fines of up to 20,000 yuan ($2,700), the suspension of their business licenses, and potential criminal prosecution.

The rules also mandate business owners regularly inspect sensitive areas under their management. Failure to fulfill this responsibility may result in intervention by the public security authorities.

China first published draft rules governing video surveillance for public comment in November 2016, but progress stalled until last April, when the Ministry of Public Security released an updated draft.

In the interim, a handful of local governments introduced their own regulations on surveillance equipment, including the small central city of Zhuzhou last March and the southern province of Guangdong earlier this year.

According to an official statement published alongside the draft rules last year, the regulations are meant to address gaps in existing legislation, including the Cybersecurity Law and Data Security Law, which lack specific provisions for managing public video systems.

Small cameras designed for eavesdropping are illegal to produce in China, but a 2024 investigation by a major media outlet found them for sale on major e-commerce platforms like Taobao and JD.com.

Liu Xingliang, a member of the Expert Committee on Information and Communication Economics at China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, told state media Tuesday that the new regulation would strengthen privacy protections.

“It’s a strong response to the widespread misuse of surveillance equipment in many places, particularly concerning the excessive monitoring of citizens’ private lives,” Liu said.

But Liu also noted the need for better rules related to closed-circuit camera footage in public spaces. “In the next phase, I recommend enhancing transparency regarding the collection, storage, and usage of public security video footage,” Liu said. “By establishing a clear mechanism for public disclosure, citizens would be able to understand what data is being collected, how it will be used, and the duration for which it will be retained.”

(Header image: VCG)