Hacker Claims to Have Data on 1 Billion Chinese Citizens From Police Files

Chinese paramilitary policemen watch as people visit a promenade on the Bund along the Huangpu River in Shanghai on May 1, 2021. Hector Retamal/AFP via Getty Images

A trove of data of more than 1 billion Chinese residents, allegedly hacked from the Shanghai police database, has been listed for sale on the dark web. If verified, it could amount to the biggest data leak in the country’s history.

“In 2022, the Shanghai National Police (SHGA) database was leaked,” reads a post dated June 30 on Breach Forums, a popular hacker community. “Databases contain information on 1 billion Chinese national residents and several billion case records, including name, address, birthplace, national ID number, mobile number, all crime/case details.”