Unboxing. In English, it's a cheerful word. Just imagine ripping up a box of gifts. But in China these days, the direct translation "kaihe" has something a bit more sinister. Imagine the box containing your most sensitive secrets, your ID info, home address, even financial records.

Now picture a stranger prying it open and scattering your private life across the internet. This month, a case made headlines by exposing this dark practice. A 13-year-old girl was caught trafficking in stolen personal data. And her family is tied to one of China's tech giants.

On this week's Deep Dive, my colleague Jiang Tao explores how this shadow economy harvests our information and how we might show ourselves in an increasingly invasive digital world. It's Friday, March 28th.

So this terminology, 开合挂人, is even confusing for Chinese because I explained this word to some of my colleagues and their first reaction to this word 开合 is that, are we opening a box of gifts? So I think before we move further, it's important to make sure that everybody knows what this word 开合挂人 means. And also, it's actually also

also connected to another word that people might be more familiar with, "ren rou sou suou". So can you explain to us what this word "kai he gua ren" means and also what's its connection to the other word "ren rou sou suou"? "Kai he gua ren" and "ren rou sou suou", just as you mentioned earlier, I think you pretty

get the gist of the meaning of the two terms. These two terms are not very good words, but if I want to translate it into English, 开合挂人 literally means that open the box and hand the person. Hand the person. Yeah, hand the person, while 人肉搜索 translates to human flesh search. So both terms are commonly in Chinese internet culture, and 开合挂人 is a metaphor.

for publicly exposing someone's private information, often with the intent to humiliate them or to punish them. On the other hand, Renrou Sousou is more like focused on the collection or the gathering process of the information, the private information. And I think it's

can't use the collective power of the internet users and can be considered as less damaging. Because I know in English there's a kind of equivalent or similar word called doxing.

also in the Western Internet culture, which is used for people that kind of illegally dig up others' information and expose them online. So is there some connection? Can we say like doxing is the English translation for 開合掛人?

Yeah, I suppose because Doxing share a lot of similarities, but there is a slightly difference. Doxing is a broad term used globally and referring to the act of revealing someone's private information.

to harm, to cause harm, to distress the individual. And 开口挂人, however, is more focused on exposing someone's private information or their wrongdoings in a very public manner. So it may not always about revealing personal information for harassment, but more about publicly shaming or punishing the person.

However, in practice, it also leads to some bad consequences like online harassment and even people would attack in real life because they can get their real address information and even their workplace information.

There are so many cases, it's rampant. I mean, the phenomenon is rampant. Right. I'm sure the first time I've heard about these illegal searches on people's real life information, the first case of such incident must be a very long time ago. And now after we have made sure that everybody is on the same page on this terminology, 开合挂人, let's go through what happened this time in this case. So this

13-year-old girl. She has illegally exposed people's personal information online. And I'm sure this is not the first time we have heard such a case taking place. And the question is, why is there such a huge attention on these specific cases this time?

Well, actually, as I mentioned earlier, this phenomenon is rampant. And why this girl stands out is because she's the daughter of Baidu's vice president. Okay, one of China's biggest tech giants. Yeah, so it raised many suspicions on Baidu.

involved around this case. So this case is a recent example of the online, of Kai He Guaren. It is derived from online argument between fans of different celebrities and this girl is one of the fans of a celebrity. And fans from both sides use this method, Kai He Guaren, to attack each other.

So they searched their private information, for instance, their names, jobs, and very sensitive data and posted it online. And the girl also, you know, exposed her opponent's information. And this has raised a suspicion. Maybe she

have accessed the big tech firms database. Baidu in this case. Yeah, particularly in this case. And ironically, the girl who exposed the information also, you know, was doxxed back in return. So she doxxed her rivalries information and... In return. Ironically... She's also doxxed.

People also found out her background, family background. That's how people found out she's the daughter of one of China's biggest tech giants, Baidu. Yeah, and later Baidu responded by confirming that the exposed information, I think it is for publicity, did not originate from their platform and the internal data handling was strictly separated.

to prevent such breaches. Right, so they have protection, making the internal information anonymous. Very strict surveillance of the data. So if the girl, the daughter of the vice president of Baidu, if she didn't doxed her rivalry based on the information from

her father's company, then how did she get those information? Because I'm sure I can't just look it up on Google and then they just pop out. People are also arguing about the result, why she has obtained such information. And from the individual's perspective, I mean, just the girl announced that she obtained the information from a blackmail market.

And that organization is known as Social Engineering Database. This database is like a reservoir of personal information, you know, acquired through illegal methods, some deceptive means. So there's a database that stores people's information, but illegally. Yeah, it is a very huge database and gathers people's information from all around the world. And many people have even utilized a telegram to get in touch with the database. Okay, telegram again? Yeah, telegram.

Notorious. And even used cryptocurrency to make the deal hard to track. Yeah. So it's very hard to find whether they, you know, obtain the information from the database or not. And the database includes all kinds of information, like, for instance, your ID cards number and your phone number. Okay. I know you're a gamer, right? Yeah.

Yeah, I'm a gamer. Yeah, and even your game accounts can be steal from the database. Okay. And there is a vast market for this database. And some people can just pay, for instance,

eight dollars for your phone number and sometimes they can for more sensitive data they can pay up to uh two thousand yuan for your home address yeah the more difficult it is to to retrieve such data then the more expensive the database will sell it for yeah and I think the market is shockingly

large because people have the constant urge to want to get such information. So how severe is this problem in China of the doxing culture, the doxing economy? Well, it is quite common, I have to say, because recently I just read a news report saying that a young kid

used Kaihu Guaren to attack a pregnant woman because the woman said something bad about the celebrity, a celebrity because the kid is one of the fans of the celebrity and the kid sent abusive messages to all her family and

And that is, you know, very popular nowadays in China. And there are certain groups I want to point it out because I want to let you understand the general picture happening in China. One particular group is the celebrities because they are, you know, under the...

spotlight and right yeah and if they conduct some controversial behaviors such as changing their nationality while still making money domestically but definitely will stir some public outrage and people would you know just conduct such behavior to

to take advantage. I wouldn't be surprised if the celebrities are the most vulnerable group because even if you don't dox them, I think their information may already be available, accessible. Yeah, might be very easily accessible already for the celebrities. And I want to talk about another group is that

some bullies and abuses because despite their actions of causing public outrage, they are not subject to the legal penalties and people would just under the guise of so-called people's justice to expose their privacy data online and try to lead others to punish them.

Additionally, there are also other cases happening around in China. As I mentioned, the celebrity case, many fans would attack each other. It's like the formation of Fan Quan. They are easily engaged in such behavior, just attack each other using...

Kai He Gua Ren. Using this method. Yeah, using this method to attack each other. And the problem is not unique to China. For instance, in the US in 2017, a 28-year-old was accidentally killed by police after a prank, which involved a gamer providing the... A gamer? Yeah, a gamer providing the address of another gamer to prank him.

So yeah, it's very horrible. And in South Korea, this situation is also very severe. The celebrities. Celebrities, especially those young female celebrities. Some of them even chose to end their lives after suffering long-term harassment online.

While Europe is seen as a safer place due to strict privacy laws, they have a very profound and comprehensive legal system to protect privacy information, such as regulations on the large tech firms. But it also has some side effects because such restriction would hinder such big tech firms to thrive.

to evolve. Right. Nonetheless, toxin remains a global issue. Yeah, so this time people have become aware of this terminology, "kaihe gua ren." I'm sure like I wasn't the person to hear this terminology for the first time. Many others share this same experience as I do, but

Even though we are hearing this term 開合寡人 for the very first time, this phenomenon has been existing long before this terminology. If I'm not mistaken,

The first time that the other word, 人肉搜索, became viral and became a phenomenon and a buzzword was in the early 2000s. Yeah. So the problem has always been there, but the terminology has been changing. So why it's been so difficult to just eradicate this problem, this doxing culture? Yeah, you're perfectly right. Actually, there are several factors behind these phenomenon.

One is the weak security system and the other is lack of awareness among the public. And I think the good foundation of security systems starts from regulation. For instance,

In 2021, China enacted its first comprehensive data privacy law, which mandates those big tech firms to obtain explicit consent before collecting sensitive data. And it also imposes penalties for violations for

the fines can go up to 5% of annual revenue. And in 2022, China's online hailing platform, Didi, was fined 1.2 billion US dollars for violating this law. And according to authorities that in 2024, over 380 online harassers have been arrested for Kaihe actions.

But handling personal information remains complex because sometimes governments also need to require tech companies to share data with authorities, especially in cases involving online fugitives and criminals. And some tech firms also continue to over collect personal data, while many citizens lack awareness of their privacy rights and sometimes even don't know how to address such violations.

So to alleviate this issue, I think maybe we should learn from Europe's practice. Right. Yeah, such as giving individuals the right to demand the deletion of their data. Okay, bypass their information online. Yeah, and requiring websites or apps to offer a reject all button for cookies or tracking.

as well as enabling users to withdraw consent at any time. That gives them much more freedom to improvise. I think one crucial part is also needed, is the strict punishments. It can raise awareness about privacy protection. In many cases,

I'm sorry to point it out, involve minors because due to a lack of legal oversight, they're more likely to engage in online harassment. Just I mentioned earlier, a young kid just attacked a pregnant woman who criticized a celebrity, and that is a vivid case. I think young offenders need a new punishment mechanism to ensure they are properly regulated and guided.

And I think no one wants to become a victim of online harassment. And we hope with better online environment regulations, these issues would gradually diminish. Okay. So the complexity of these crimes may be the reason why it's been difficult to eradicate this phenomenon.

And while we know that in this invasive internet culture, it may be difficult to keep our secrets, but I think for our podcast listeners, maybe the first thing we can do is to make sure our passwords are secure to our podcast accounts so you guys can stay tuned to Deep Dive and other fascinating programs from CGTN Radio. Thank you very much for your time, Zhang Tao. Thank you for having me.

The fallout from this case has been swift. Just this Monday, Weibo banned 147 accounts involved in doxing. But this isn't just China's crisis. With illegal data markets now operating across borders on encrypted platforms, using cryptocurrency to invade detection, the solution to doxing may need to be equally transnational.

And that brings us to the end of this episode of Deep Dive. If you enjoyed what you just heard, don't forget to follow us on your podcast platforms. Just search for Deep Dive. You can also leave a comment to let us know what you want to learn about China and beyond. This episode is brought to you by me, Li Yunqi, and my colleagues Zhang Zhang and Qi Zhi. Special thanks to CGTN radio reporter Jiang Tao. I'll see you in the next one.