Leaks prompt postal overhaul

China's postal authorities have ordered an overhaul of the express delivery sector amid growing concerns over personal information being leaked and traded by workers.

The State Post Bureau said in a recent statement that delivery companies should ensure user information is well protected throughout their procedures, and that authorities will be conducting spot-checks on firms, focusing specifically on personal information security.

A worker at an online shop in Yiwu, Zhejiang province, sorts out parcels to be delivered this month. ZHANG JIANCHENG / FOR CHINA DAILY

The moves come after various media reports highlighting the reselling by express workers of delivery receipt details, which have increased public concern over the disclosure of personal information.

Liu Jun, deputy chief of the State Post Bureau, said at a conference last week that the national authority plans to build a long-term system of protecting user information in the express delivery sector.

Anyone found guilty of misusing personal information could face legal action.

Liu said companies failing to meet the protection requirements would be suspended from providing service until they have rectified any problems identified.

China's express delivery industry has been boosted by the booming online shopping market, estimated at 806.2 billion yuan ($129.2 billion) in the first three quarters of this year, according to the Ministry of Commerce.

Other figures from the State Administration of Industry and Commerce now suggest there are 210 million online shoppers in the country.

The reselling of package receipts has become big business, said Hong Zhilong, a manager of the Anzhenmen branch of ZTO express in Chaoyang district in Beijing.

"I now know there are companies that gather this kind of information and resell it — I get calls from them all the time," he said.

Hong said delivery workers are required to keep the receipts signed for by customers for a year before handing them to the headquarters of the company.