Unauthorized Distribution of Netizens' Personal Information
"Deep Guilt as a Father"
Rising Concerns Over Security Vulnerabilities
The vice president of Baidu, China's largest search portal company, apologized to the group IVE's Jang Wonyoung. The reason was that his daughter had distributed the personal information of a netizen who defamed Jang Wonyoung.
According to local media such as Namgukjobo on the 18th, Xie Guangjun (謝廣軍), vice president of Baidu, confessed in a post on Weibo the previous day, "My 13-year-old daughter got into an argument with someone online, lost control of her emotions, and distributed another person's personal information on an overseas social networking service (SNS) account." He continued, "As a father, I feel deep guilt for failing to teach her to protect others' privacy," and bowed his head, saying, "I apologize to those who were harmed." He also said, "I scolded my daughter for her wrongdoing," and asked netizens not to spread the information.
Earlier, a pregnant woman who posted defamatory comments about Jang Wonyoung recently became the target of a cyberattack by some netizens. The woman who attacked the pregnant woman is known to have distributed the personal information of about 100 netizens without permission. She was confirmed to have boasted, "I am in Canada, so I am not afraid of police reports," and "My father holds a senior position at Baidu." The fact that she was Vice President Xie's daughter was revealed when a netizen found an online order form, employment certificate, and salary statement bearing the name "Xie Guangjun" on Weibo.
Meanwhile, according to Chinese criminal law, if the case is serious, such as selling or providing personal information to others, one can be sentenced to imprisonment for up to three years, detention, or a fine. Also, if someone publicly insults another person online, they can be detained for up to five days or fined up to 500 yuan (about 100,000 won). After the incident, Chinese netizens pointed out that information was leaked through Baidu's database and expressed concerns about its vulnerable security.
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