Prosecutors target data crimes driven by black market

China's top procuratorate has warned that tailored data crimes designed to meet black market demands for personal information are emerging as a major threat to privacy and cybersecurity.

According to a statement released by the Supreme People's Procuratorate on Tuesday, prosecutors across the country filed more than 2,100 cases and charged over 4,400 suspects with crimes related to the infringement of citizens' personal information during the first three quarters of 2025.The statement noted that these crimes are showing new features and evolving patterns that merit closer attention.

Prosecutors said that some criminal groups are closely tracking the needs of the underground data-trading market, targeting, organizing and analyzing citizens' information to provide customized "raw data" services to downstream offenders.

In one case, a man surnamed Han and several co-defendants are being prosecuted for running an illegal "car-tracking" business that spanned multiple provinces. The group allegedly hacked parking-platform software systems to steal vehicle entry and exit data, installed hidden GPS trackers without owners' consent and sold drivers' route information to paying clients.

Other offenders have used web crawlers, Trojan viruses and penetration tools to infiltrate systems containing personal data, the statement said.

Once obtained, the information was sold in bulk for profit — some of it later used in telecom fraud and other illegal activities.

The statement also highlighted the rise of doxing, the public exposure of personal information. Doxing occurs when offenders obtain victims' private data from databases built on illegally collected personal information and publish or spread it online to incite harassment and abuse, fueling cyberbullying.

The Supreme People's Procuratorate said it will intensify enforcement against personal-information crimes, enhance coordination between administrative and criminal investigations, and crack down on every step and link involved in such offenses.

Prosecutors will also leverage public-interest litigation to protect citizens' private information, promote joint governance and strengthen legal education to raise public awareness.

The goal, the statement said, is to foster a shared social consensus on protecting personal data and maintaining information security.

yangzekun@chinadaily.com.cn