China uncovers massive underground network of Apple employees selling customers’ personal data

Hong Kong Free Press:

Chinese authorities say they have uncovered a massive underground operation run by Apple employees selling computer and phone users’ personal data.

Twenty-two people have been detained on suspicion of infringing individuals’ privacy and illegally obtaining their digital personal information, according to a statement Wednesday from local police in southern Zhejiang province.

And:

Of the 22 suspects, 20 were Apple employees who allegedly used the company’s internal computer system to gather users’ names, phone numbers, Apple IDs, and other data, which they sold as part of a scam worth more than 50 million yuan (US$7.36 million).

The statement did not specify whether the data belonged to Chinese or foreign Apple customers.

The good news is, it looks like this is news about the breaking up of this black market, not simply uncovering it. But the allegation that this was an operation run by Apple employees is, if true, a big black eye for Apple in China.