China has a thriving black market for personal data
The surveillance state is good at collecting information but bad at keeping it safe
Chinese netizens joined people around the world in marvelling that an American journalist could be accidentally invited into a private group chat with senior American national-security officials. But they have also been intrigued by another data leak closer to home. In March the teenage daughter of Xie Guangjun, an executive at Baidu, a tech giant, got into an apparently innocuous online argument over Korean pop music. After the exchanges escalated, she posted some of the private information of her opponents online. Known in English as doxxing, in China it is called kaihe (“opening the box”) or renrou sousuo (“human flesh search”).
Explore more
This article appeared in the China section of the print edition under the headline “Dox shocks”
From the April 5th 2025 edition
Discover stories from this section and more in the list of contents
Explore the edition
Why are Chinese soldiers fighting in Ukraine?
They have been showing up on both sides of the battlefield throughout the war
China’s shoemakers seem more sanguine than its politicians
A trade war will cause a lot of damage, but many have weathered storms before
To secure exports to Europe, China reconfigures its rail links
A new line will bypass its best friend, Russia
The Panama ports deal is delayed, as China signals dissent
Xi Jinping may be wanting to increase leverage over America
China could greatly reduce its reliance on coal. It probably will not
Even though solar and wind power are growing at a blistering pace