China's power giant denies leaking user information
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Zhangshangdianli app [File Photo: qq.com]

China's state owned electric utility company, State Grid, explained on Tuesday that the Corporation uses information security technology to prevent employees from exporting users' information in batches, denying an earlier report.

An insider revealed that information from tens of millions households had been leaked through two State Grid apps Zhangshangdianli and Dian'ebao, TechWeb reported.

Users can pay electric charges, request repairs, and apply for emergency power through the apps. They have to register the apps with a mobile phone or Wechat social media account and must bind their electricity meter's ID and password to their mobile phone or Wechat account.

The insider claimed that the State Grid assigns employees with quotas to promote the apps. As most employees can not meet the obligation, they turn to Taobao. They provide household information to Taobao shop owners and the latter finds the way to complete the quota. Then, the electricity users' private information is at risks since Taobao shop owners and customer service staff can easily benefit from selling the information on the black market.

Such business had been very hot on Taobao since May, according to the insider who estimated that tens of millions of users' information had been leaked to Taobao shop owners.

The employee quotas for promoting the apps have been cancelled. Registration services using a mobile phone number and illegal information collection are banned on Taobao.

According to Taobao rules, those who provide such services will be punished by 12 points. When the penalty points reach 48, Taobao will shut down the shop. But according to the Taobao shop owners implicated in this issue, they have never been fined for offering the account binding service to State Grid employees.

Statistics show that the Zhangshangdianli app was first piloted at the beginning of the year. To date, it has nearly 90 million users.

Author： 　　　Source：CRI　　　 Editor：Yang Fan