Credit reference agencies must seek consumers' consent before collecting their personal information and providing bad credit information about them, according to a new regulation made public on Tuesday.

The regulation, approved at an executive meeting of the State Council on Saturday, also stated that agencies cannot collect personal income information about individuals concerning their savings or real estate without letting the consumers know about possible consequences or attaining their authorization in written forms.

Personal information such as religion, fingerprints or medical history may not be collected. Credit reference agencies can only keep customers' poor credit information for five years, and must delete the information thereafter.