With his elegant glasses and boyish smile, Han Zhiyong looks like a well-educated, savvy businessman who could get along with anyone.

However, in recent months, the vice- president and chief operating officer of mingpian.com has had to fight newspaper and Internet critics accusing him of an utter disregard for people's privacy.

The outrage is over Han's encouraging people to upload others' contacts printed on business cards (including e-mail address and mobile phone number) into an easily accessible database. In return, people get two contacts back for each one entered.

Since starting operation on April 24, Mingpian, which means "business card," has amassed a database of more than 3 million contacts at hundreds of thousands of companies including Microsoft, IBM and Siemens.

Some 10,000 new contacts are uploaded daily into mingpian.com's database. "We are trying to establish a platform for business people who want to seek business partners and business opportunities," Han says.

Currently, Beijing-based mingpian.com has about 20 employees and provides a contact search service and online management service of contacts.

Non-members can use mingpian.com to search for an individual's name but only registered members with enough points from entering contacts can access others' contacts from mingpian.com. Users receive 10 points for each contact entered. Mingpian.com awards an additional three points for each download. The site also awards 50 bonus points for each new member introduced. One contact download usually "costs" five points.

"We have yet to make a profit," says Han, noting what mingpian.com has done in the past half year is to "lay the groundwork" for this relatively new business model in China.

Han is not alone. Mingpian.com has role models in the United States and they are making money.

Jigsaw.com, for example, provides similar services with a point system. But unlike mingpian.com, the California-based company allows users to exchange points in cash. The company also raises money by providing two choices for participation: Pay US$25 a month or add 25 contacts to Jigsaw's database per month.

Intelius.com provides more than just contacts. By paying US$49.95, users can read thorough reports on millions of Americans including contact, address, criminal record, civil judgment record or sex offense record. The company charges additional fees for in-depth search services.

Similar companies in the United States include Hoover's, InfoUSA, LinkedIn, Plaxo, Zoom Information and TrueAdvantage. These companies, together with Jigsaw and Intelius, share a business information market in the United States worth US$3.5 billion, according to Outsell Inc, a Burlingame, California, research firm that analyzes the industry.

Witnessing the success of his American models, Han says his company "is about to make money, too."

Han's prediction is based on the two new charges for services that mingpian.com launched at the end of October: "Business Card Manager" and "Head-hunter Express."

Business Card Manager helps business-people maintain their contacts online. Head-hunter Express provides search services for head-hunting companies in China.

"The old way of managing and maintaining relationships is less efficient," says Han. "We also provide customized holiday greeting services and mass short message services."

Grace Song, branch manager of Manpower China, a global head-hunting company, characterizes Head-hunter Express as "a good, convenient supplement to our own human resource pool.

However, because mingpian.com's data come from disclosing or selling other's contacts without permission, disputes on privacy violation have been hovering over Han's business.

Wang Lin, product manager of one of China's largest portals, says she finds it "unpleasant" to allow people to post her contacts on the Internet without permission. Wang says she will ask mingpian.com to delete her contact.

Unlike the United States, it is common in China for business-people to print their private mobile phone numbers on their business cards, which increases worries of privacy violation.

"I think what mingpian.com did just exemplifies the principles of Web 2.0," Han says. Web 2.0 is characterized by making Internet users active participants in creating content. Major websites such as myspace and youtube exemplify the trend of uploading personal blogs and videos.

China does not yet have specific regulations on privacy protection, and according to Han, mingpian.com, has never been prosecuted.

"I knew mingpian.com was going to be controversial," he says, "but we have been trying to minimize the bad side while maximizing the good."

According to Han, mingpian.com has been trying to establish a system that ensures the "appropriate use of mingpian.com's contacts," which, Han says, should "be based on serious business purposes."

Without fully answering the privacy question, he elaborates, "We have set up a grading system to evaluate our users' behavior. Only those people who upload accurate contacts and do not get complaints from others will be upgraded."

Even if Han and his company resolve privacy issues, mingpian.com's financial success would seem to rely on whether the site is fully accepted by customers like head-hunter Song.

"We do like mingpian.com's services," Song says, "but if everyone could get other's contacts from mingpian.com, then who would turn to us?"

(China Daily 11/20/2006 page6)