1,213 arrested for personal info trafficking

BEIJING - Chinese police have broken up 468 gangs and arrested 1,213 people for suspected personal information trafficking, according to a statement released Sunday by the Ministry of Public Security.

A total of 1,327 cases of personal information trafficking were solved and more than 700 million pieces of personal information were seized by police from more than 20 public security organs including Beijing, Hebei and Shanghai, according to the statement.

A large batch of computers, hard disks and tracking and positioning devices they used to market personal information were also captured during the campaign, it said.

In early April, police in Beijing and Hebei found that a gang marketed personal information on the Internet, with business spanning more than 20 provincial and city regions across the country, the statement revealed.

The ministry has launched three nationwide campaigns to crack down on such criminal activities since 2012, the statement said.

The ministry said it will maintain a harsh crackdown to such criminal activities in order to ensure people's legal rights are well protected.

It also reminded the public to improve the awareness of self-protection and not to disclose personal information in their daily life.