Prominent and not-so-prominent Taiwanese have been swept up by a Chinese tech firm in a database of the personal information of millions of people around the world.
About 2.4 million people are included in the Overseas Key Information Database (OKIDB) — a collection of mostly public data such as social-media profiles — compiled by Shenzhen-based Zhenhua Data Information Technology Co Ltd (深圳振華數據信息技術有), which reportedly has links to the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) and Beijing’s intelligence networks.
Radio Free Asia on Tuesday reported that at least 2,900 Taiwanese political and business leaders were among those caught up in the database.
Photo: Fang Pin-chao, Taipei Times
Most notably, the news outlet found data on former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九); People First Party Chairman James Soong (宋楚瑜); Minister of Foreign Affairs Joseph Wu (吳釗燮); Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (台積電) Education and Culture Foundation chairwoman Sophie Chang (張淑芬); National Security Bureau (NSB) Deputy Director-General Hu Mu-yuan (胡木源); Lee Kun-yi (李坤儀), a granddaughter of former president Lee Teng-hui (李登輝); and former NSB director-general Yang Kuo-chiang (楊國強).
According to the news outlet’s analysis, people found in the database can be roughly divided into seven groupings: prominent political figures; foreign and military officials; those in the tech industry or academia; local officials; those with criminal records; entertainers; and partners or relatives of those people.
Data include personal information, such as addresses, birthdays, e-mail addresses, marital status, photographs, social media accounts, legal documents and criminal records, it said.
The data could be used to analyze personalities, categorize people by importance or to compile a network of their contacts, Radio Free Asia quoted National Taiwan University assistant professor of criminology Puma Shen (沈伯洋) as saying.
Considering that relatively few Taiwanese and dissidents are included in the database, Zhenhua Data is likely peripherally related to “united front” work as a contractor, Shen said.
President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) and former Kaohsiung mayor Han Kuo-yu (韓國瑜) are not in the database, Radio Free Asia reported, although it found some surprising figures, such as Jko Fintech chairman Kevin Hu (胡亦嘉); Chthonic band member Doris Yeh (葉湘怡), the wife of Legislator Freddy Lim (林昶佐); news anchor Lulu Hsia (夏嘉璐); and singer Kenji Wu (吳克群).
The database was leaked to US academic Christopher Balding, who was previously based in Shenzhen, but has returned to the US.
For recovery and analysis, he shared the data with Internet 2.0, a Canberra-based cybersecurity consultancy. The findings were first published on Monday by a consortium of media outlets, including the Guardian.
Internet 2.0 said that it recovered the records of about 250,000 people from the leaked dataset, including about 52,000 Americans, 35,000 Australians and nearly 10,000 Britons.
They include politicians, such as British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison, their relatives, the British royal family, celebrities and military figures.
However, a Zhenhua representative contacted by the Guardian said that the firm does not collect data, it simply integrates it.
“We are a private company,” said the woman, surnamed Sun, denying any links to the Chinese government or military. “Our customers are research organizations and business groups.”
“OKIDB exists, but it is not as magical as they say,” she said, referring to the foreign media reports.
However, Balding described the breadth of the data as “staggering,” saying that the database was “technically complex using very advanced language, targeting and classification tools.”
Additional reporting by Diane Baker
CALL FOR PEACE: Czech President Petr Pavel raised concerns about China’s military maneuvers in the Taiwan Strait and its ‘unfriendly action’ in the South China Sea The leaders of three diplomatic allies — Guatemala, Paraguay and Palau — on Tuesday voiced support for Taiwan’s inclusion in the UN on the first day of the UN General Debate in New York. In his address during the 78th UN General Assembly, Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr urged the UN and all parties involved in cross-strait issues to exercise restraint and seek a peaceful resolution. “The well-being and prosperity of nations and their economies are intrinsically linked to global peace and stability,” he said. He also thanked partner nations such as Taiwan, Australia, Japan and the US for providing assistance
CROSS-STRAIT CONCERNS: At the same US Congress hearing, Mira Resnick said a US government shutdown could affect weapons sales and licenses to allies such as Taiwan A Chinese blockade of Taiwan would be a “monster risk” for Beijing and likely to fail, while a military invasion would be extremely difficult, senior Pentagon officials told the US Congress on Tuesday. Growing worries of a conflict come as China has ramped up military pressure on Taiwan, holding large-scale war games simulating a blockade on the nation, while conducting near-daily warplane incursions and sending Chinese vessels around its waters. US Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs Ely Ratner said a blockade would be “a monster risk for the PRC [People’s Republic of China].” “It would likely not succeed, and it
AMPHIBIOUS EXERCISES: The defense ministry said that it had detected 24 Chinese PLA Air Force planes entering Taiwan’s air defense zone over the previous 24 hours Chinese movements around Taiwan were “abnormal,” Minister of National Defense Chiu Kuo-cheng (邱國正) said yesterday, flagging recent amphibious exercises in addition to drills Taipei has observed in China’s Fujian Province. Taiwan has reported a rise in Chinese military activity over the past week as dozens of fighters, drones, bombers and other aircraft, as well as warships, have operated around the nation. “Our initial analysis is that they are doing joint drills in September, including land, sea, air and amphibious,” Chiu told reporters at the legislature in Taipei. The “recent enemy situation is quite abnormal,” he said. The comments followed a statement from the
IN MOURNING: Tsai visited the site and spoke with family members of those killed, while all the major presidential candidates said they would temporarily halt campaigning A fire and subsequent explosions at a golf ball factory at Pingtung Technology Industrial Park (屏東科技產業園區) killed at least seven people, including four firefighters, and injured 98, while three were still missing, authorities said yesterday. The blaze at Launch Technologies Co’s (明揚國際) plant on Jingjian Road raged for more than 12 hours after it started at about 5pm on Friday, officials said. The Pingtung County Fire Bureau early yesterday used large excavators to search for missing people, while family members waited at the scene. Pingtung County Fire Bureau Director Hsu Mei-hsueh (許美雪) said the bureau received a call about the fire at 5:31pm
RSS