Huge leak of Shanghai police informants' personal data

An apparent security flaw on the Shanghai police website has led to a huge leak of private information about informants and people making complaints to the department.

The leaked files included their names, home addresses, phone numbers and the letters they sent to the police chief's e-mail address, according to a review by the South China Morning Post.

The bulk of the files, dated from August to yesterday, were emails and photographic proof of alleged wrongdoing - some implicating police officers.

The data could be publicly accessed on a server that hosts the Shanghai Public Security Bureau's website from Friday afternoon, and perhaps earlier, to yesterday afternoon. The server became unavailable after that.

The bureau could not be reached for comment. The cause of the leak is unclear.

Complainants contacted about the leak expressed shock. "How could they do this to us?" said a man from the Minhang district of the city who lodged a complaint earlier this year.