In March of this year, an incident of "13-year-old underage pregnant women opening boxes" sparked heated discussions, pushing the term "opening boxes" to the forefront. What is' unboxing '? That is, criminals collect and disclose other people's name, ID number, address, contact information and other sensitive information through illegal means, mostly for the purpose of inciting cyber violence, slander attacks or seeking benefits. At the end of May, the Cyberspace Administration of China issued a notice requiring the strengthening of the rectification work on the issue of "opening boxes". What is the root cause of the repeated ban on "opening boxes"? How can netizens' lock 'their personal privacy data? The reporter conducted an interview. Why is it difficult to prevent "unboxing" cyberbullying? One day when he woke up, his phone was bombarded with countless threatening phone calls and private messages. Illustration artist Xiao Cai, who lives in Beijing, realized that he had been "unboxed". These pieces of information come from different accounts, most of which are newly registered with the same IP address. After blocking one account, another 10 were added. ”Xiao Cai said, "My post from a few years ago was also dug up, and I was insulted and spread rumors in a group that I didn't know about, and then screenshots were sent to me. The other party even shared my home address and threatened to kidnap me." And all of this happened because Xiao Cai once stood up for another netizen who had been attacked by this "box opener" in a group chat. After clarifying the situation, Xiao Cai reported to the police. After police intervention, the other party finally calmed down. Recalling the experience of fighting against the 'box opener', Xiao Cai Xin has lingering fears: 'I don't know him at all, and we have never had any disputes over interests. He' opened the box 'me just because I said in the group that he did something wrong. It was very terrifying and caused me great physical and psychological harm.' When it comes to 'opening the box', many people will think of 'human flesh search'. What are the connections and differences between the two? He Dingjie, the vice president of the Internet Trial Division of Chengdu Intermediate Railway Transport Court and the fourth level senior judge, has handled many related cases. He Dingjie told reporters: "To a certain extent, 'opening the box' is a technical upgrade of 'human flesh search' in the past." Specifically, traditional human flesh search mainly relies on netizens' crowdfunding, that is, obtaining others' privacy through public discussion, information exchange and other ways; However, "unboxing" is more organized and industrialized, usually provided by specialized "unboxing personnel" or "black and gray industries" that violate the law and operate on the edge of the law, resulting in more accurate and efficient information acquisition. Therefore, "unboxing" is more widespread and covert than "human flesh search". As the black and gray industry chain of personal information buying and selling transactions has already taken shape, 'unboxing' is not a high threshold and cost behavior. ”Liu Xiaochun, associate professor of the Law School of the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and director of the Internet Rule of Law Research Center, explained that "in most cases, due to the anonymous release of information by the box opener, the subject of responsibility is often difficult to directly verify, which increases the difficulty of accountability." In the exposed cases, many personal privacy data that have been "opened" come from overseas "social work databases", that is, databases built by criminals after collecting leaked personal information. For a maximum of several hundred yuan, you can "buy" a full set of information such as a person's registered residence address, marriage history records, front and back of ID card, real estate under the name, bank card flow, etc. How were these traded information leaked? According to reports, in 2023, there will be over 19500 data breaches monitored, analyzed, and validated across the entire network, involving more than 20 industries such as finance, logistics, aviation, e-commerce, and automotive. This year's 315 Gala also revealed that some so-called "customer acquisition software" can steal others' information from social records and shopping orders, and then package and sell it. Especially in recent years, new technologies such as artificial intelligence have promoted the popularization of various intelligent devices, bringing more challenges to personal information protection. On the one hand, smart devices continuously collect sensitive data information such as voice and images from users during use. If the security protection is insufficient, it is easy to be hacked and stolen; On the other hand, if there is a lack of standardization in the data exchange and sharing mechanism between different devices, it is also easy to lead to the disorderly flow of information across platforms, thus forming a more hidden chain of personal information leakage. ”He Dingjie told reporters. Does being a minor affect the handling of "opening boxes"? Searching for "unboxing" on social media, the reporter found that there is an alarming proportion of minors among both victims and perpetrators. In 2023, the video website Bilibili reported a case where a group of people organized and incited users on overseas platforms to "open boxes" against the UP hosts on the site, with a total of more than 40 violators, mainly minors. "As online 'aborigines', minors often participate more deeply in various online communities, such as' food circle', 'anime' and 'game circle'. ”Liu Xiaochun told reporters, "Sometimes the value orientation of these communities tends to deviate - just holding different views on a certain character or celebrity can lead to conflicts and 'unboxing' becomes a means of attack and retaliation. In addition, minors have weak awareness of the rule of law and cybersecurity, and sometimes they are not aware of the consequences of their own behavior. They are more likely to participate in 'unboxing' online violence for the purpose of venting emotions, attracting attention, and showing off skills. If not intervened and rectified, it will pollute the entire online ecosystem and have a profound negative impact on minors. ”Liu Xiaochun said. So, will the special status of minors affect the handling and accountability of "unboxing"? Judicial authorities usually take into account factors such as the age, psychological state, and behavioral motivation of minors, and adopt a lenient and strict approach, emphasizing the role of education and guidance. ”He Dingjie said, but this does not mean that being a minor is a "shield". For the act of "opening boxes" by minors, if it constitutes a crime, those who are over 16 years old should bear criminal responsibility; If it constitutes insult, defamation, threat to personal safety, dissemination of privacy, etc. that violate the Public Security Administration Punishment Law, those who are over 14 years old can be subject to public security punishment. For minors under the age of 14, their guardians should be ordered to strictly discipline them. If damage is caused, the guardian shall bear civil liability. When the victim is a minor, the "Guiding Opinions on Punishing Internet Violence and Illegal Crimes in accordance with the Law" jointly issued by the Supreme People's Court, the Supreme People's Procuratorate, and the Ministry of Public Security clearly states that the perpetrator should be "severely punished in accordance with the law". Long term attention to this field, Liu Xiaochun believes that in order to solve the problem of minors participating in "box opening", different parties need to work together: "Schools should offer relevant courses and lectures to let children know that" box opening "is illegal and will infringe on the legitimate rights and interests of others, and they need to bear legal consequences. Platforms also need to increase control and implement more effective monitoring and early warning." To prevent "box opening", how to "lock" information? The threshold for illegally obtaining personal information has been repeatedly lowered, and the "black and gray industries" behind it continue to be exposed. Faced with the highly covert threat of "unboxing", people cannot help but worry about how to "lock" their personal information? Wu Shenkuo, Senior Advisor on Cybersecurity and Cybercrime at the United Nations and Doctoral Supervisor at the Law School of Beijing Normal University, pointed out that "one of the consequences of the spread of the phenomenon of 'unboxing' on the Internet is the negative impact on the normal circulation and utilization of personal information, which makes the public distrustful of industries related to personal information. This requires the national cyberspace department to take action as soon as possible to rectify it." Currently, the country has taken a series of measures to strengthen the protection of personal privacy information. In February of this year, the Cyberspace Administration of China, in accordance with laws and regulations such as the Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China, the Regulations on the Administration of Network Data Security, and the Methods for Determining Illegal and Irregular Collection and Use of Personal Information by APPs, investigated and dealt with 82 illegal and irregular APPs (including mini programs) that infringed on personal information rights and interests in accordance with the law. In May, the Cyberspace Administration of China announced 15 apps and 16 SDKs (software development kits). The investigated and reported apps cover various categories, including mobile games, online wallpapers, medical and health care, education and training, online payments, novels and movies, online dating, etc. In addition, in March of this year, the Cyberspace Administration of China, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Administration for Market Regulation, will issue a notice on carrying out a series of special actions for personal information protection in 2025. This announcement highlights many regulatory "key points", including the collection of non essential personal information beyond the scope of smart wearable products, smart home products, smart learning terminals, illegal collection and use of facial recognition information in public places, and the mandatory collection of non essential information in offline consumption scenarios such as QR code ordering, travel, and charging. The announcement also specifically mentioned the need to crack down on illegal and criminal activities such as the illegal sale of citizens' personal information through overseas channels such as dark web telegrams and domestic channels. There is still a lot of work to be done to eliminate the root cause of "unboxing" and completely plug the gap of personal information leakage. After years of accumulation, the relevant black and gray production chain needs to be eradicated with a 'combination punch', "Liu Xiaochun reminded." Not only should the country improve regulatory standards and strengthen law enforcement, but related enterprises should also strengthen internal organizational management. In addition, it is necessary to educate the public. Wu Shenkuo told reporters, "The development and spread of 'unboxing' has a certain social and psychological foundation behind it - some people do not consider 'unboxing' or 'human flesh search' as illegal behavior." He said that it is necessary to improve the popularization of legal knowledge, especially for minors, and do a good job in legal education and publicity guidance. (New Society)