14 accused of selling personal data

The Chaoyang procuratorate has accused three employees of major telecom companies and 11 other people of selling private information to debt-collection companies, in a case related to a 2008 murder case.

A Beijing man allegedly paid 2,000 yuan to get the address of another man, surnamed Lu, from an 'investigation company' (which was run by some of the defendants charged by Chaoyang prosecutors), after learning his wife had an affair with Lu. The man posed as an express deliveryman in March 2008 and killed Lu with a knife. The killer was later convicted.

A suspect surnamed Wu told the prosecutors when he used to work for a telecommunication company, he sold personal information, such as names, ages, addresses and call records, of cell phone users registered with that company. Wu said he made about 20,000 yuan in three months selling such information in 2008 and one of his main clients was Zhang Ronghai.