Personal data of Chinese celebrities is reportedly for sale

Celebrity hacks don't just happen in the West

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Personal data of Chinese celebrities is reportedly for sale

Published: 11:49pm, 22 Feb 2019Updated: 8:57am, 20 Sep 2019

This article originally appeared on ABACUS

Celebrity hacks happen all the time in the West: Selena Gomez, Emma Watson, and even Mark Zuckerberg have found themselves victims of cyber attacks.

But one report says information on celebrities in China is easy -- and cheap.

Local Chinese media outlet Beijing News claims that they discovered it cost just US$45 to purchase data on more than 700 celebrities -- including personal IDs, mobile phones, social app ID, addresses, and other information.

The list bought by reporters allegedly included China’s Justin Bieber, Lu Han, the second-highest paid celebrity in the country. Also included were A-List names like soap opera star Zhao Liying, and a member of the insanely popular boy band TFBoys, Karry Wang. The reporters were also able to check the flight information of a well-known TV presenter for the trifling amount of US$1.50.

Aside from singing, Lu Han also stars in films including Time Raiders. (Picture: SCMP)

The reporters failed to confirm if the information really belonged to those stars. We don't know if the information really belongs to them.

But celebrities have complained about it in the past. Chinese actress Yang Mi, the third-highest paid Chinese celebrity on Forbes list, was so annoyed with an incident of a fan stalking her she took to Weibo.