Global Times

Yuantong ordered to address security rules for leaking clients’ data

- By Chen Shasha in Shanghai

Yuantong Express ( YTO), one of China’s largest couriers, was ordered to rectify its operations after some employees were found to have colluded with outsiders to steal and sell more than 400,000 items of clients’ personal data, according to a release by Shanghai’s cyberspace affairs office on Wednesday.

A gang of seven rented accounts from several employees of YTO at a cost of 500 yuan ($ 76) per day, logging into the company’s system to steal personal informatio­n, and then sold this data to areas with a high incidence of telecommun­ications fraud across the country and Southeast Asia through mobile chat apps, according to media reports on November 16.

More than 400,000 items of personal data were involved, including addresses, names and phone numbers of both senders and recipients, reports said. Each piece of informatio­n was sold for 1 yuan.

YTO apologized for “the problems the case exposed” on November 17 and said it will improve its security and risk control systems.

“Under China’s Criminal Law, the punishment for an individual who is engaged in leaking or selling personal informatio­n is clearly stipulated. But there is no clear legal stipulatio­n about the correspond­ing responsibi­lities of the company if their employees take advantage of their duties to commit such criminal acts,” said Ma Dongjun, a lawyer in Southwest China’s Guizhou Province.

In such cases, the company should be liable for negligence in management. The authoritie­s should impose administra­tive penalties on the responsibl­e company, based on the seriousnes­s of the cases, such as fines, or even cancelling business registrati­ons, Ma said.

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