Developing mobile apps for the Chinese market is about to become a lot more difficult.

As of August 1st, all mobile app developers in China will be compelled by law to conduct real-name registrations of their users and preserve records of their activity for at least two months. The Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) explained the new regulations are necessary because “Some apps have been used for spreading violence, terrorism, pornography and rumors, while some apps are violating users’ privacy and cheating money from them.”

Developers must verify the identities of their users by recording their phone numbers or other personal information. At the same time, developers must guarantee the security of their users’ personal information, and promise not to collect information on the location of their users.

Mobile app providers will be made responsible for their users, while developers must “improve censorship” by issuing warnings, suspensions and even bans to any users sharing “illicit information”.

The new regulations also make app stores responsible for ensuring all apps are authentic, while being on the look-out for piracy.

These new regulations follow this month’s announcement that all mobile app games distributed in China must be pre-approved by Chinese authorities, paying particular attention to video games with “political and military themes”.