China's top court and procuratorate last Tuesday jointly¹ issued a judicial² interpretation³, stipulating⁴ that those who illegally obtain, sell or provide 500 pieces of data related to personal credit or property information could face a prison term of up to seven years.

上周二，我国最高法院和最高检察院联合发布的一项司法解释明确，非法获得、出售或提供500条个人征信或财产信息的数据的，将面临最高7年监禁。

The interpretation, by the Supreme⁵ People's Court and the Supreme People's Procuratorate, was the first document of its kind to ensure data protection for citizens' personal information.

最高人民法院和最高人民检察院出台的这项司法解释，是首个确保公民个人信息获得数据保护的司法解释。

The Criminal Law states that those convicted of selling or providing personal information to others could face a maximum sentence of three years if "the circumstances are serious," while if "the circumstances are especially serious," violators could face up to seven years in prison.

刑法》规定，向他人出售或提供个人信息的，情节严重的，处3年以下有期徒刑；情节特别严重的，处7年以下有期徒刑。

The interpretation clearly defines situations considered "especially serious," including illegally obtaining, selling or providing 500 items of data about a person's location, communication or their credit or property information.

该解释明确规定了“情节特别严重”的情形，包括非法获取、出售或提供500条有关某人的行踪信息、通信内容、征信或财产信息的数据。

Should violators make more than 50,000 yuan from their underhanded activities or their crimes are linked to the death, serious injury, mental disorder⁶ or kidnap of people, their offenses⁷ will be considered "especially serious", according to the new rule.

根据这项新规，若违规者因不正当行为赚取逾5万元，或其罪行与公民死亡、重伤、精神失常或被绑架相关的，应认定为“情节特别严重”。

Under the interpretation, fines for violators shall be between one to five times of their illegal gains.

按照该解释，违反者应被处以其违法所得的一至五倍的罚款。