
A staff member of Qingdao Real Estate Registration Center privately uploaded Fan Bingbing Li Chen’s purchase information and has been fired; Fan Bingbing is learning about the situation
According to the Beijing News, recently, the news that Fan Bingbing Li Chen purchased nearly 10 million real estate in Qingdao was exposed, and some netizens posted pictures of housing property rights information. Some netizens questioned that the relevant staff of the Qingdao Municipal Bureau of Land, Resources and Housing (hereinafter referred to as "Qingdao Housing Administration") were suspected of using their positions to violate and disclose citizens’ personal privacy information, and complained on the official website of the bureau.
Yesterday afternoon, the Qingdao Housing Administration informed that a staff member of the Municipal Real Estate Registration Center had inquired about the purchase information of the party without authorization and sent it to the personal WeChat family and friends group, resulting in the leakage of the party’s purchase information. The staff member has been fired. And expressed his apologies.
Users complain to the Housing Authority for leaks
On March 14, a WeChat official account focusing on entertainment news published an article, which first exposed the news that the two "purchased nearly 10 million luxury houses in Qingdao".
The official account article quoted an internal whistleblower as saying that the new house purchased by "Chenbing" currently only paid 5 million down payment, and it was a one-time payment, of which Fan Bingbing contributed 4 million, and the remaining 1 million was paid by Li Chen, and the real estate certificate wrote two names.
The above-mentioned article also attached pictures of the property rights information of the two people who bought the house. The poster said that the picture was provided by netizens and their name was watermarked on the picture. In the picture, the property rights number, property rights value and other information are clearly visible; in the "name of the right holder" column, the names of "Fan Bingbing" and "Li Chen" are listed, as well as the ID number that has been mosaic.
Tiandu, an online user, said that the relevant staff of the Qingdao Municipal Housing Administration were suspected of using their positions to leak and violate Li Chen Fan Bingbing’s personal privacy, "violating work norms and behaving badly." As of yesterday afternoon, a total of four netizens had complained in the "Discipline Violation Report" column of the official website of the Qingdao Housing Administration.
Official dismissal of disciplinary personnel
Yesterday afternoon, the official Weibo account of the Qingdao Municipal Housing Administration announced the results of the investigation. The report said that a staff member of the city’s real estate registration center violated work discipline and inquired about the party’s house purchase information without authorization and sent it to the personal WeChat family and friends group, resulting in the disclosure of the party’s house purchase information. "In view of the staff’s behavior violating the relevant regulations on the inquiry and protection of real estate registration information, the staff member has been dismissed." At the end of the notice, the party was also apologized.
At about 5pm yesterday, Fan Bingbing’s agent said that he had not yet paid attention to the notice from the Qingdao Municipal Housing Administration and "went to find out the situation first".
■ Focus
Where are the boundaries of celebrity privacy?
"As long as the privacy of celebrities is not in the public interest, it should be protected"
After the incident, some netizens argued that Fan Bingbing and Li Chen, as popular celebrities, were public figures and that privacy related to public interest should be relinquished.
"The current law in our country does not clearly define the concept of a public figure." Cao Hanbing, assistant director of Beijing Mugong Law Firm, said that the current consensus in academia and industry is that public figures should make certain "concessions" to their privacy rights compared with ordinary people. Wang Kai, an associate professor at the School of Media and International Culture at Zhejiang University, said that privacy is related to the most basic human dignity, personal freedom and peace of life of everyone. Both men believe that such concessions are not borderless and have no bottom line. Violations of the privacy rights of public figures also bear legal responsibility.
"Whether it is related to the public interest is the basic principle for measuring the privacy boundaries of public figures." Wang Kai believes that in the above incident, the staff of the Qingdao Real Estate Registration Center illegally inquired about the purchase information and sent it to the WeChat group, as well as the WeChat official account that first published the news, have violated the privacy information of Fan Bingbing and Li Chen. "Although the ID number, real estate address, etc. are mosaic, these information have no public interest."
Is it reasonable to fire the leaker?
"Relative punishment is not heavy", which constitutes a crime and can be investigated for criminal responsibility
"If the leaker infringes on the civil rights and interests of others, he can be required to bear civil liability according to law; if he is suspected of violating the law, he can be given administrative punishment according to law; if it constitutes a crime, he should be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law." Lawyer Cao Hanbing said that at present, the law of our country has clear provisions on the infringement of privacy rights.
Previously, in two incidents, including the exposure of Faye Wong’s file photos and the exposure of the identity information of Li Yifeng and Yang Yang, many of the staff involved were given warnings and suspended. Is the punishment for dismissing the leaker too severe?
Article 26 of the "Interim Regulations on Real Estate Registration", which came into effect on March 1, 2015, explicitly requires that "real estate registration institutions, real estate registration information sharing units and their staff shall keep real estate registration information confidential."
For violations of the above requirements, Article 32 of the regulations also makes it clear: "Real estate registration agencies, real estate registration information sharing units and their staff, units or individuals who inquire about real estate registration materials violate state regulations, disclose real estate registration materials and registration information, or use real estate registration materials and registration information for improper activities, causing damage to others, shall bear the liability for compensation according to law; the relevant responsible personnel shall be punished according to law; if the relevant responsible personnel constitute a crime, they shall be investigated for criminal responsibility according to law."
"The staff who leaked real estate information was fired this time, and the punishment is relatively not heavy," Cao Hanbing, a lawyer, said.
What should I do if my privacy is leaked?
You can complain to the police; you can also ask the other party to apologize.
"First of all, we need to raise awareness of privacy protection." Lawyer Cao Hanbing said that in order to safeguard their rights to personal privacy, citizens should first know what personal privacy rights are. "Address, phone number, ID information, property status, etc., are all personal privacy."
"When citizens discover that their private information has been infringed, they have the right to ask the leaker or the unit to delete the relevant information or take other necessary measures to stop it," he said. If a citizen’s personal private information is posted online, the party concerned can immediately notify the network service provider in writing and require necessary measures such as deletion, blocking, and disconnection of links. "If the network service provider fails to take necessary measures in a timely manner after receiving the notice, it will be jointly and severally liable for the expanded part of the damage."
Lawyer Cao Hanbing said that any organization or individual who steals or otherwise illegally obtains, sells or illegally provides citizens’ personal electronic information to others, as well as other illegal and criminal acts of private information, "the parties can immediately report to the public security organs, or they can immediately complain to the relevant competent departments."
"The infringed party can also file a lawsuit according to law, asking the other party to apologize, eliminate the impact, compensate for losses, etc.," he said.
However, the Beijing News reporter found that most of the stars involved in the above two star leaks did not ask the staff involved to apologize or compensate.
Writing/Beijing News reporter, Yang Feng, intern, Sun Yi