A CAC security assessment is a mandatory review conducted by China’s Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) before certain organisations can transfer personal information or important data outside the country. Introduced under the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law (PIPL), the assessment evaluates whether the proposed cross-border transfer poses risks to national security, public interest, or the rights of data subjects.
Companies that process personal data of more than one million individuals or transfer critical infrastructure data are automatically subject to this assessment before any overseas data flow can begin.
Operators of critical information infrastructure, entities processing large volumes of personal data, and any organisation whose cumulative overseas transfers exceed defined thresholds must file for a CAC security assessment. The review examines the legality and necessity of the transfer, the data protection policies of the overseas recipient, and the contractual safeguards in place.
It also evaluates the recipient country’s legal environment to determine whether it offers adequate protection. The CAC aims to issue a decision within 45 working days, though complex cases may take longer.
Global businesses operating in China should map all data flows that cross Chinese borders and identify which transfers trigger the assessment requirement. A consent management platform like Seers.ai helps by recording granular consent from Chinese users in accordance with PIPL, documenting the lawful basis for each processing activity, and generating audit-ready records.
Pairing Seers with server-side tagging reduces reliance on client-side cookies that may be subject to additional network-data regulations, streamlining the evidence package you submit to the CAC.
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