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To do their job, the police need access to personal data – that much goes without saying. For example, officers in Germany can also request transaction data. However, access to the central database “Inpol” is strictly regulated.
China also has strict regulations, and there is also an official police database. In Shanghai at least, however, there was also a considerable amount of carelessness: Officials made citizen data openly accessible via the cloud. Access was easier that way. But the result was now a gigantic and, above all, enormously embarrassing data leak. Now China’s Premier has reacted. He has announced an improvement in the protection of sensitive information.
The radicalism of China’s Internet regulators is something to envy from a European perspective. Last summer, the popular ride service DiDi, the Chinese Uber, was pulled from the app store. The government felt that the management had become too independent. Since then, the company has shown humility. Apparently, this is being rewarded: The app could soon be available again, our Beijing team reports. In addition, the hard crackdown on tech companies is slowing down after a campaign that lasted several years.
Finn Mayer-Kuckuk
Feature
The catastrophic police data leak has consequences
Perfect surveillance meets less-than-perfectionist users: The Shanghai police apparently left a database of citizen information lying around unprotected on a publicly accessible server for months. This was reported by CNN and the Wall Street Journal. The hackers, who were able to obtain the addresses and telephone and ID numbers of nearly a billion people, did not have to do much to get their hands on the treasure trove of data. Now they are offering it on the free market for 23 Bitcoin (China.Table reported).
The spectacular data breach has caused quite a stir. Those who learned about it despite censorship were outraged. And the government is apparently reacting to the incident without directly addressing it. Premier Li Keqiang announced a tightening of data management policies. “The security of personal information handling must meet the level required by law,” the State Council announced on Thursday. “Actions that violate the rights and interests of individuals and businesses, such as the illegal use and misuse of information, must be seriously investigated.”
It’s a regular occurrence in China for the central government to express shock at the incompetence of cadres and local authorities and promise quick corrective action. “The breach has clearly caught the attention of China’s top leadership,” writes Kendra Schaefer of consulting firm Trivium China. “Not so much a ‘hack’ as a casual ‘gonna help myself to these delicious data donuts someone left on the counter’.”
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