PogoWasRight.org

Menu
  • About
  • Privacy
Menu

China web sites requiring users’ names

Posted on September 6, 2009July 3, 2025 by Dissent

Jonathan Ansfield reports:

News Web sites in China, complying with secret government orders, are requiring that new users log on under their true identities to post comments, a shift in policy that the country’s Internet users and media have fiercely opposed in the past.

Until recently, users could weigh in on news items on many of the affected sites more anonymously, often without registering at all, though the sites were obligated to screen all posts, and the posts could still be traced via Internet protocol addresses.

But in early August, without notification of a change, news portals like Sina, Netease, Sohu and scores of other sites began asking unregistered users to sign in under their real names and identification numbers, said top editors at two of the major portals affected. A Sina staff member also confirmed the change.

Read more in The New York Times.

Out of curiosity, I went to Sina’s English version web site to see if anything was posted there. That’s when I first read their privacy policy. I don’t know if it’s always been this way, but here’s how it reads today:

6.1 Information Collection, Sharing and Disclosure. It is SINA’s policy to respect the privacy of its users. When you sign up as a SINA Netizen, SINA will require your name, email address, gender, date and place of birth, education, occupation, yearly household income, zip code and any other information as required (“Registration Data”). In addition to the Registration Data provided by you, SINA may also collect and store certain personally identifiable information in SINA’s secure database, when you visit the Web Site, when you use some of SINA’s Services, or when you enter promotions or sweepstakes on the Web Site. SINA also automatically receives and records information from your browser including but not limited to your IP address, the pages you requested and the time of request. SINA may use the information it obtains relating to you, for its internal business and marketing purposes, including but not limited to (i) fulfilling your requests for certain products and services; (ii) customizing the marketing materials and the content you see on the Web Site; and (iii) contacting you about special and new products or services. SINA may disclose your information to third parties and share your information, including both personally identifiable and aggregated information, with SINA’s partners and/or alliances, when (i) SINA gets your consent to share the information; (ii) SINA needs to share your information to provide the product or service you have requested; (iii) SINA needs to send your information to companies who work on behalf of SINA to provide a product or service to you; (iv) required by subpoenas, court orders or legal process; or when (v) your actions on the Web Site violate the TOU or any of SINA’s usage guidelines for specific products or services on any applicable web page.

No related posts.

Category: Featured NewsGovtNon-U.S.OnlineSurveillance

Post navigation

← Ohio bill will allow DNA testing on arrest
Administration seeks to keep terror watch-List data secret →

Now more than ever

Search

Contact Me

Email: info@pogowasright.org

Mastodon: Infosec.Exchange/@PogoWasRight

Signal: +1 516-776-7756

Categories

Recent Posts

  • Canada’s Bill C-2 Opens the Floodgates to U.S. Surveillance
  • Wiretap Suits Pit Old Privacy Laws Against New AI Technology
  • Action against tiny Scottish charity sparks huge ICO row
  • Congress tries to outlaw AI that jacks up prices based on what it knows about you
  • Microsoft’s controversial Recall feature is now blocked by Brave and AdGuard
  • Trump Administration Issues AI Action Plan and Series of AI Executive Orders
  • Indonesia asked to reassess data privacy terms in new U.S. trade deal

RSS Recent Posts on DataBreaches.net

  • Scattered Spider Hijacks VMware ESXi to Deploy Ransomware on Critical U.S. Infrastructure
  • Hacker group “Silent Crow” claims responsibility for cyberattack on Russia’s Aeroflot
  • AIIMS ORBO Portal Vulnerability Exposing Sensitive Organ Donor Data Discovered by Researcher
  • Two Data Breaches in Three Years: McKenzie Health
  • Scattered Spider is running a VMware ESXi hacking spree
©2025 PogoWasRight.org. All rights reserved.
Menu
  • About
  • Privacy