Tech Giant Baidu Denies Data Breach Allegations Following Controversy Over Executive’s Daughter

• Baidu’s Vice President in the cloud division is involved in a data leak scandal.
• Media reports say his teenage daughter published sensitive user data on social media.
• The tech giant blames illegally sourced “doxing databases” for the controversial incident.

Chinese technology giant Baidu has refuted claims of an internal data breach after the teenage daughter of Xie Guangjun, Baidu’s Vice President in the cloud division, allegedly leaked the personal information of internet users online. 

The controversy erupted after accusations surfaced that the daughter of the senior executive posted sensitive user details during an online dispute, including their real names, state-issued ID numbers, phone numbers, and IP addresses.

Reports allege Xie's 13-year-old daughter verbally abused a Weibo user who had criticized a post by South Korean singer Jang Won-young fans, also participating in a coordinated online attack against a pregnant woman by disclosing her information.

In a decisive response, Baidu reaffirmed that neither employees nor executives are granted access to user data without stringent oversight. The company attributed the contested leaked information to illegally sourced “doxing databases” available on foreign platforms.

Baidu has initiated legal action, filing a police report against the spread of misinformation online, including claims that Xie Guangjun had granted his daughter unauthorized access to the company’s user database, as per Reuters.

The VP publicly apologized for his daughter’s behavior, stating through a social media post on WeChat that the leaked data originated from overseas social networking sites and not from Baidu’s internal systems.

This incident places a spotlight on China’s stringent data security environment. The nation has implemented robust data protection laws and heightened restrictions on the handling and sharing of personal information. 

These measures aim to combat the proliferation of unauthorized online databases that traffic sensitive data, including private details such as birthdates and property ownership records.

The fallout from this controversy has already impacted Baidu’s market performance, with the company’s shares experiencing a 4% decline in Hong Kong trading on Thursday morning. 

Baidu’s decisive denial and legal measures may help the company mitigate immediate reputational damage, but investors are closely monitoring Baidu’s response to the incident as well as its ability to maintain consumer trust and regulatory compliance.