Leaking personal info an offense

After the new school session started in early September, many parents in Lanzhou, Northwest China's Gansu province, received calls from a variety of educational or training agencies enquiring about their children's educational needs. Shockingly, all the agencies had detailed information on their children, including the names of their schools and house addresses.

Worried about the safety of their children, when some parents reported the matter to police, they were told that law enforcement officers could intervene only if such an information leakage has serious consequences. The police's reply is confusing and will make people whose personal information are leaked more worried, especially because police are obliged to investigate any illegal information leakage instead of waiting until it gets serious.

Even if information leakages have become common in some areas, it does not mean police can remain inactive until the personal details are used to commit frauds, or intimidate or abduct people.

The recent deaths of several university students after falling victims to telecom frauds show that seemingly trivial personal information leakages can lead to serious consequences. If police only take action after such crimes are committed, how can people be assured that the government is committed to cracking down on illegal acquisition of citizens' personal information?

The police have no reason to ignore the widespread disclosure of information on Lanzhou's students just because it has not led to serious consequences. They should take seriously any report on information leakage and refrain from citing "no serious consequences" as an excuse for their inaction. The crackdown on some major telecom frauds shows that if related departments－such as police and telecom operators－interact and coordinate their actions, and use high tech, personal information leakage and telecom scam rackets can be smashed.