A private detective was detained and fined for trading in illegally obtained personal information, Minhang District prosecutors office has said. The private eye, surnamed Ye, received a four-month detention and a 3,000 yuan (US$479) fine for dealing in 13 pieces of personal information and eight sets of credit reports. This was among three typical personal information leakage cases dealt with recently by the Minhang District People's Court. Stolen personal information can be used for fraudulent activities, marketing purposes and to achieve business advantage. Ye met a security guard, surnamed Cao, via a group on the QQ instant messaging service in 2012. The private detective asked Cao to follow targets and photograph their homes, car plates and mailboxes. To get more information on his targets, Ye bought personal information on QQ, including identities, addresses, career and bank credit details. He resold the information, making a profit of 8,000 yuan. While under Chinese law, a private detective is neither an approved nor banned profession, Ye was found to have broken the law by illegally obtaining personal information. Other scenarios in personal information transactions include having a legitimate company as cover and company insiders selling details, prosecutors said. A 42-year-old surnamed Zhu, who owned a consultancy, started a new venture in selling personal information. He was found with 1,515 items of personal details, and received a 14-month jail term and a 10,000 yuan fine. Meanwhile, a member of staff surnamed Hang with a company's personnel department sold details, including investor information, for 70,000 yuan. Hang was jailed for 10 months and fined 10,000 yuan. Related News
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