Chinese experts have called for upgrade of e-ID authentication technology to prevent private information leaks, suggesting a third party platform with fingerprint or face recognition may be a better solution.
People can buy all kinds of private information on black markets in China thanks to e-ID loopholes, which have caused telecommunication frauds, impersonation and credit-related problems, reported Science and Technology Daily on Tuesday.
"You can buy 11 types of private data including records of hotel booking, rail travel and flights on an 'identification black market' for 850 yuan ($133) … Personal identification information can be bought for only 10-40 yuan," Jing Jiwu, deputy director of Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Information Engineering, was quoted by the Beijing-based newspaper as saying.
"Illegal personal information trade affects the implementation of the internet real-name system," Jing said, adding that the black market lets a person's internet ID information be attached to another person.
"Many institutes require users to provide detailed personal information when registering for their services … These are usually legal," Ma Dongjun, a law expert specialized in right to privacy, told the Global Times, noting that some people who get their hands on the information sell them for monetary gain, and that is how private information is leaked.
Lu Guangming, vice president of Internet security company AsiaInfo, called for establishing a credible third party authentication platform with new technologies such as voice recognition, fingerprint recognition and face recognition to solve the problem, reported the daily.
