Personal data of Chinese elite including billionaires Leaked on Twitter
This news will perhaps shake the very foundations of the PLA and Chinese leadership and we could see a major reshuffling soon. A Twitter user has leaked tonnes of personal information on dozens of prominent Chinese Communist Party officials and tycoons from China. The user, shenfenzheng who has since been banned by Twitter, also leaked personal information of billionaires Jack Ma, Wang Jianlin from Chinese mainland in one of the country’s biggest online leaks of sensitive information.
https://twitter.com/heisechanye/status/731115391204786177
The tweets from “shenfenzheng” leaked detailed information about CCP, PLA officials and top tycoons from China including their official ID cards to the residential addresses of prominent people in government, banking, technology and industry. In some cases, shenfenzheng even leaked details of their children. Many of the tweets were swiftly deleted but Bloomberg verified that at least two of the ID numbers posted in that fashion were authentic.
That shenfenzheng seems to have access to such classified information in the heavily censored state of China is astonishing. Shenfenzheng, a name that literally translates as “personal ID,” tweeted that the intention was to expose how potentially sensitive information on Chinese individuals — no matter how senior — can be easily procured through black-market channels. Information on executives can be dredged up through publicly available filings and databases, but access is typically limited to licensed professionals who must be verified and can be tracked.
Also there is a glaring doubt that shenfenzheng may be a dissident Chinese living outside China as he/she used Twitter to leak the details instead of the Chinese equivalent microblogging website, ‘Weibo’.
“It’s easy to figure out anybody’s information, whether you’re a government official or a celebrity,” shenfenzheng tweeted earlier. “Getting the common people’s data is like buying cabbage.”
The account was suspended Thursday. Twitter typically freezes accounts that indulge in abusive behavior or pose a to other users.
Information leaked by shenfenzheng included details of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. Chairman Ma, Tencent Holdings Ltd. Chairman Ma Huateng, Xiaomi Corp. co-founder Lei Jun, Dalian Wanda Group Co. founder Wang and Sany Heavy Industry Co. Chairman Liang Wengen. He also leaked personal data of a governor of a major province.
“Are you surprised at all this information? I hope this encourages the nation’s scrutiny, and shows how worthless individual data is in China,” shenfenzheng tweeted.
The tweets were downloaded and are being shared by Twitter users as can be seen from the above tweet. It remains to be seen what action the massive Chinese firewall will manage to control the extent of leaks in Mainland China.
