The Kaohsiung branch of the High Court has convicted a man surnamed Liu (劉) and a woman surnamed Hong (洪) for online purchases and resales of the private data of Chinese citizens.
Liu and Hong were sentenced to five months and six months respectively for contravening the Personal Data Protection Act (個人資料保護法), the court said.
A third suspect, a man surnamed Chiu (邱), is in hiding, it said.
Photo: Pao Chien-hsin, Taipei Times
The trio in July 2021 used the Telegram messaging app to arrange purchases of personal files on people in China, with the data including names, mobile phone numbers, ID card numbers, home addresses, education levels and bank account numbers, the court said.
They purchased the data from a Chinese contact who used the handle “Baoma Database” (寶媽數據庫), it said.
The trio resold the data via Telegram and Skype, with Chiu collecting payments, while Hong managed the accounts and financial records, it said.
Police were investigating a fraud complaint submitted by a man surnamed Tseng (曾), who implicated the trio, the court said.
Authorities searched a rented premises in Kaohsiung in September 2021, seizing material pertaining to the investigation, including devices containing the personal data, it said.
The Ciaotou District Court in the first ruling found Liu and Hong guilty, handing them five-month and six-month sentences, which could be commuted to fines of NT$1,000 per day of imprisonment.
The defendants appealed to the High Court, which upheld the first ruling. The second ruling can be appealed.
Legal experts said that the act provides broad protection of personal private information, extending to people in other countries.
Article 2, Item 1 of the act defines personal data as a person’s name, date of birth, ID number, passport number, physical features, fingerprints, marital and family status, education level, occupation, medical and healthcare records, sex life, health records, criminal records, contact information, financial status, social and networking affiliations, and other data that can be used to directly or indirectly identify people.
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