China fines Didi, the “Chinese Uber”

The logo of Chinese carpooling giant Didi's app on a mobile phone's navigation map, illustrative photo taken July 1, 2021. REUTERS - Florence Lo

Text by: RFI Follow

2 mins

After a year of investigation, Didi Chuxing, the “Chinese Uber” was fined on Thursday more than 8.02 billion yuan, or 1.16 billion euros, by the Chinese regulator.

He was sentenced for failure to protect users' personal data and undermining state security.

Advertising

Read more

With our correspondent in Beijing,

For a year now, the leaders of the Chinese carpooling giant have been

.

Some of them will also have to get their hands on the wallet directly, since the general manager of Didi Chuxing, Cheng Wei, and its president Jean Liu will each have to pay a fine of one million yuan (nearly 145,000 euros ).

According to the China Cyberspace Administration (CAC), the company has committed 16 offenses, including the illegal collection and processing of user data.

The taxi and VTC ordering platform would have dug into personal data on mobile phones which, a priori, have nothing to do with a request for transport.

Twelve million photos, more than 150 million addresses, as well as data on the age and even on the family relations of some of its customers would have been illegally collected, specifies the press release from the regulator quoted by the

.

In #China, new rules to protect the rights of #VTC drivers.

In a press release, the Ministry of Transport forces platforms to provide drivers with social insurance and to be transparent about their income... #Didi #uber https://t.co/O5dbJTDwhS

— Stephane Lagarde (@StephaneLagarde) November 30, 2021

The investigation, we remember, started just after

.

The company with the logo in the shape of a big orange "D" turned over on the belly, known to all smartphone owners in China, then made nearly 90% of car orders with driver.

Either a considerable mass of information on its users and a real object of terror for the state-party in China, which was afraid to see its data transferred abroad.

"

 ," said the regulator CAC on Thursday, without giving further details.

On his Weibo account, Didi says he accepts the regulator's decision and promises to rectify what needs to be rectified.

The regulator has not yet specified whether it authorizes the restoration of applications and the registration of new users, blocked since the start of the investigation.

► To read also: Beijing is considering taking control of Didi, the Chinese Uber

Newsletter

Receive all the international news directly in your mailbox

I subscribe

Follow all the international news by downloading the RFI application

google-play-badge_EN

• China

• Transportation

• Technologies