China arrests 22 over sale of Apple private data
22 people detained as part of an alleged US$7 million scam
Chinese authorities say they have uncovered a massive underground operation involving the sale of Apple users’ personal data.
Twenty-two people have been detained on suspicion of infringing individuals’ privacy and illegally obtaining their digital personal information, according to a statement on Wednesday from police in southern Zhejiang province.
Of the 22 suspects, 20 were employees of an Apple “domestic direct sales company and outsourcing company”.
The suspects allegedly used the company’s internal computer system to gather users’ names, phone numbers, Apple IDs, and other data, which they sold as part of a scam worth more than 50 million yuan (US$7.36 million).
The statement did not specify whether the data belonged to Chinese or foreign Apple customers.
After months of investigation, the statement said, police across more than four provinces – Guangdong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, and Fujian – detained the suspects over the weekend, seizing their “criminal tools” and dismantling their online network.