Hotel records and phone logs for sale on Taobao
Staff Reporter 2013-10-26 11:38
A branch of the Podinn hotel chain in Shanghai. (File photo/CFP)
Details of personal information including customers' hotel reservations and their national ID numbers are being traded illegally online in China through major e-commerce platforms such as Taobao, reports the state-run China News Service.
Simply by entering keywords such as "room keys" and "purchase records," it is possible to find several people selling this kind of information on Taobao. One seller said they could obtain an individual's reservation records as long as they had their full name and ID number, quoting a price of 500 yuan (US$80) for records within a single city and 800 yuan (US$131) for records across the country over the past three years.
The information provided by the seller includes the the names of the hotels they have visited, their room numbers and the times and dates they checked in and checked out. Major hotel chains such as the Hanting Inns Hotels and the Podinn Hotel were among the hotels from which the information could be procured. The seller said they were also able to offer their customers the reservation records of higher-end hotels.
The seller is clearly confident about the accuracy of the information as they allow their clients to view the information before paying for it. The seller's feedback score on Taobao showed that they have made six deals over the past month.
Another seller said they could offer similar information if they were provided only with a person's name and date of birth. They also claimed to be able to provide anyone's hotel reservation record in Beijing for 800 yuan (US$130) as long as the person provided their ID cards when checking in to hotels, which is mandatory in China. The seller also quoted a price of 2,500 yuan (US$410) for the mobile phone log of any individual over the past six months. It said the information came from China Unicom's customer services. The phone records were said to be available to buyers within a couple of hours but the hotel reservation records take a day.
