After the revelation that Baidu Vice President Xie Guangjun's daughter published netizens' personal information through a scam called "opening the box," numerous victims have complained online. Media outlets have also been investigating the operation of the "opening the box" industry, making "opening the box" a hot topic online in China. Weibo has taken action, cracking down on some accounts involved in "opening the box," and official media have urged the public to say no to "human doxxing." The sudden and aggressive crackdown on the long-standing "opening the box" problem is worth noting.
The practice of "opening the box," where individuals illegally obtain personal information and then disseminate it freely online, has recently become a hot topic online in China. Numerous media outlets have reported on the operation of the "opening the box" industry, revealing that for just a few hundred yuan, anyone can purchase personal information from overseas community websites. This station discovered several different "opening the box" groups on Telegram and discovered that membership in these groups allows users to pay to access a wide range of personal information, including even blind date marital histories and monthly phone usage patterns.
"Box opening" has become a hot topic again, and different cases of people claiming to be victims of "box opening" have appeared on various social platforms. Some bloggers said that they suffered online violence and telephone harassment due to "box opening", but they were unable to deal with it even after calling the police.
Blogger "Chuanlie" said: "My family's household registration information and mine was pinned to the top of a TG group with over 14,000 members. They even added phone numbers and home addresses, encouraging others to educate and entertain them. For a time, my family's household registration information was circulated across QQ groups, WeChat groups, and domestic short video platforms. The constant barrage of phone calls, text messages, and malicious photoshopped threats left my family in utter despair. I was harassed by clients in June 2022 and February 2023, and I reported both cases, but nothing was done."
Former police officer reveals that personal location tracking can be done for 2,000 yuan
Officials have recently stepped up their crackdown on "opening boxes" (or "box-opening"). Weibo announced in its latest weekly report on cyberbullying control that it has removed 451 pieces of illegal content related to "box-opening" and banned 147 accounts. Xinhua News Agency's "Xinhua Viewpoint" featured a story on Tuesday (March 25th) titled "Say No to Human Box-Opening," criticizing the "box-opening" industry, which creates illegal online violence and has a negative impact on society. A blogger, formerly a police officer, stated that he is currently assisting individuals arrested for suspected involvement in "box-opening" to seek assistance.
Blogger "Guangzhou Criminal Labor SIR" said: "Today, I met with a detention center in Guangzhou. The company was engaged in illegal activities, charging 500 yuan for household registration checks and 2,000 yuan for location checks. The parties, following the boss's instructions, sent a large amount of information to customers, never realizing that it contained private information such as personal information and mobile phone numbers. We worked overnight to compare the relevant information one by one and successfully reduced the number of pieces of information we originally identified to 60,000."
The government's requirement for real-name registration is a major loophole in personal information leakage
Wu Shaoping, a Chinese human rights lawyer living in the United States, said that the Chinese government has obtained a large amount of personal information through the implementation of the real-name system in order to control everyone's life, but at the same time it has also made the government the main loophole for the leakage of personal information.
Wu Shaoping said, "Personal information, such as phone numbers and ID numbers, can be monetized. The public security department has the most comprehensive information. A simple check on their internal website reveals a person's account holdings, family relationships, phone numbers, hotel stays, and so on. They are also able to track a person's whereabouts. We (lawyers) always apply to the public security department for this type of personal information. The public security department is the biggest outlet for leaking a person's private information."
Wu Shaoping said that the problem of "opening the box" has existed in China for a long time, and there have been lawsuits as early as 2014, but the authorities have always turned a blind eye. The sudden active crackdown and pointing the finger of blame for the information leaks overseas is believed to be related to the "evil list" recently established by overseas volunteers, which published a large amount of personal information of officials, making the authorities feel a sense of crisis and wanting to take the opportunity to crack down on the collection operations.
Officials are actively cracking down on "opening the box" because they are worried that they will also be exposed.
Current affairs commentator Wang Jian also noted that the issue of "opening the box" not only involves cyberbullying but also affects social harmony. If a large amount of personal information can be purchased for a few hundred yuan, officials could become victims of "opening the box" when relations between officials and the public are strained or when political struggles flare up.
Wang Jian said, "The CCP has absolutely no sense of social responsibility. This action is certainly not driven by social responsibility or the public interest, but rather by its own needs and its own self-interest. The authorities quickly intervened and cracked down on this matter (the crackdown on "opening the box"), and with such force. I believe that when this matter (the crackdown on "opening the box") becomes widespread, no one is safe, not even the officials themselves. What if an official uses your information to attack you? Wouldn't that kill you even faster? So this crackdown isn't just about moving the cake. I think the main reason is that even the officials themselves feel unsafe. How can I (the official) be threatened?"
Wang Jian said that "Kaihe" has attracted widespread attention from officials and citizens because Baidu Vice President Xie Guangjun's 13-year-old daughter is suspected of using it to commit cyberbullying. It also highlights the deep-seated social problem that the privileged class has no bottom line.
