Expat couple operated illegal personal-data-mining business_美文

Expat couple operated illegal personal-data-mining business

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A Briton and a US citizen were arrested on suspicion of illegally selling personal information in Shanghai.

It was the first police case that involved a company registered by foreigners on the Chinese mainland whose core business was investigations, which the Ministry of Public Security alleged were illegal in a notice on its website on Tuesday.

Briton Peter William Humphrey and his American wife, Yu Yingzeng, were arrested on Aug 16.

They founded China Whys, an investigation firm, in Shanghai's Pudong New Area in 2004.

Their clients were multinational companies, including manufacturers, financial institutions and law firms, police said, without providing details.

According to police, Humphrey, 57, and Yu, 60, bought and collected personal data about Chinese citizens - such as addresses, names of family members, travel and property and car ownership - paying 800 yuan ($130) to 2,000 yuan per household since 2003.

They compiled the information in reports and since February 2009 sold these to clients for hundreds of thousands of yuan each.

Police said the couple made 6 million yuan profit annually on about 100 orders.

At least 10 reports Humphrey and Yu prepared contained information infringing on Chinese citizens' privacy rights, police said after raiding the office.

"We obtained the personal information by illegal approaches sometimes. I'm deeply regretful and apologize to the Chinese government," Humphrey said on China Central Television influent Mandarin on Tuesday.