Alibaba Falls Victim to Chinese Web Crawler in Large Data Leak - WSJ
Alibaba Falls Victim to Chinese Web Crawler in Large Data Leak
Software developer scrapes 1.1 billion pieces of user data, including IDs and phone numbers, over eight months
Ant, Alibaba Show How China Reins in Big Tech Faster Than Other Countries
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By Yang Jie and Liza Lin
Updated June 15, 2021 10:46 pm ET
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A Chinese software developer trawled Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ’s popular Taobao shopping website for eight months, clandestinely collecting more than 1.1 billion pieces of user information before Alibaba noticed the scraping, a Chinese court verdict said.
The software developer began using web-crawling software he designed on Taobao’s site starting in November 2019, gathering information including user IDs, mobile-phone numbers and customer comments, according to a verdict released this month by a district court in China’s central Henan province. When Alibaba noticed the data leaks from Taobao, one of China’s most-visited online retail sites, the company informed the police, the court said.
A spokeswoman said Alibaba proactively discovered and addressed the incident and was working with law enforcement to protect its users. She wouldn’t elaborate on how many people were affected. No user information was sold to a third party and no economic loss occurred, she said. About 925 million people use Alibaba’s Chinese retail platforms at least once a month, according to the company.
While the developer didn’t obtain encrypted information such as passwords, some of the data he scraped, including phone numbers and a portion of usernames, isn’t publicly presented on the website.
Chinese legal experts say a data leak involving mobile-phone numbers would have more far-reaching consequences in China than in other parts of the world. In China, where people are required to register with real name identification before obtaining a mobile phone number, such numbers are considered by law to be personal information, said Annie Xue, a Beijing-based lawyer at GEN law firm.
Software developer scrapes 1.1 billion pieces of user data, including IDs and phone numbers, over eight months
Ant, Alibaba Show How China Reins in Big Tech Faster Than Other Countries
YOU MAY ALSO LIKE
UP NEXT
Ant, Alibaba Show How China Reins in Big Tech Faster Than Other Countries
Ant, Alibaba Show How China Reins in Big Tech Faster Than Other Countries
In less than six months, China’s tech giant Ant went from planning a blockbuster IPO to restructuring in response to pressure from the central bank. As the U.S. also takes aim at big tech, here’s how China is moving faster. Photo illustration: Sharon Shi
By Yang Jie and Liza Lin
Updated June 15, 2021 10:46 pm ET
SHARE
TEXT
A Chinese software developer trawled Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. ’s popular Taobao shopping website for eight months, clandestinely collecting more than 1.1 billion pieces of user information before Alibaba noticed the scraping, a Chinese court verdict said.
The software developer began using web-crawling software he designed on Taobao’s site starting in November 2019, gathering information including user IDs, mobile-phone numbers and customer comments, according to a verdict released this month by a district court in China’s central Henan province. When Alibaba noticed the data leaks from Taobao, one of China’s most-visited online retail sites, the company informed the police, the court said.
A spokeswoman said Alibaba proactively discovered and addressed the incident and was working with law enforcement to protect its users. She wouldn’t elaborate on how many people were affected. No user information was sold to a third party and no economic loss occurred, she said. About 925 million people use Alibaba’s Chinese retail platforms at least once a month, according to the company.
While the developer didn’t obtain encrypted information such as passwords, some of the data he scraped, including phone numbers and a portion of usernames, isn’t publicly presented on the website.
Chinese legal experts say a data leak involving mobile-phone numbers would have more far-reaching consequences in China than in other parts of the world. In China, where people are required to register with real name identification before obtaining a mobile phone number, such numbers are considered by law to be personal information, said Annie Xue, a Beijing-based lawyer at GEN law firm.
