China has tightened its grip on citizens' data with the passing of a comprehensive update to anti-espionage legislation. 

The Standing Committee of the National People's Congress passed a revised Counter-Espionage Law on Wednesday, which extends the definition of spying and prohibits the transfer of any information related to national security and interests. 

This is the first update to the law since 2014 and will come into effect on July 1. 

The new legislation will allow authorities carrying out an anti-espionage investigation to access data and information on personal property and ban border crossings.
The China News Service (CNS) has reported that “documents, data, materials, and items related to national security and interests” will come under the same protection as state secrets.

Critics have voiced concerns that the revised law lacks clear and definitive definitions for terms such as “espionage organisations and their agents”, “enemies”, and “national security”, raising the risk of abuse.