Cops launch probe of data dealing at YTO

Qingpu district police have begun investigating reports that the employees of one of China's largest express delivery companies are selling customer information online, the Xinmin Evening News reported Thursday.

In a statement Thursday, the Shanghai Municipal Postal Administration, which supervises the city's express delivery services, urged the company, YTO Express, to root out employees who leak customer information and report them to the police.

Police have conducted a preliminary investigation and will take further action, said Jin Bin, a press officer for the Qingpu district police.

Despite the recent media attention on the issue, the illicit sale of personal information persists online. A search on taobao.com Thursday turned up 2,800 results for personal information dealers.

One dealer told the Global Times that she still has access to YTO's customer information and pointed a reporter to the website where she gets her data.

The website, which specializes in the personal information of YTO customers, continuously updates its database of customer shipping records. By 4:30 pm Thursday, the website had 6,240 pieces of information on packages sent from Shanghai that day.

The website offers information about packages sent from all over the country, allowing buyers to obtain information about packages sent between specific places.

Alibaba Group, which owns taobao.com, vowed to crack down on illicit information dealers operating on the website, according to the administration's statement.