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China’s cybersecurity regulator on Thursday said it has fined Didi Global Inc more than 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion), closing an investigation that forced the ride-hailing giant to delist from the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) within a year of its debut and made foreign investors wary about the Chinese tech sector.
The penalty from the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) came after the regulators decided that Didi violated China’s network security law, data security law and personal information protection law.
Regulators also fined Didi Chairman Cheng Wei and President Jean Liu 1 million yuan apiece, CAC said in a statement.
“Our investigation discovered that Didi’s actions on data management severely affected national security. It also neglected to comply with our specific demands and avoided oversight, among other infractions,” the agency wrote in its statement, employing a Chinese saying to accuse Didi of “promising one thing but doing the opposite.”
In an online statement, Didi said it accepted the regulators’ decision.
The CAC announced a probe into Didi shortly after its debut in the US on June 30, 2021, and ordered Chinese app stores to remove 25 apps operated by Didi and asked the firm to stop registering new users, citing national security and public interest.
However, there is no clarity as to whether or when its apps will be allowed to return to app stores or whether or when it can resume new user registrations.
Didi previously said it would need to apply for the apps to be restored, and three sources told Reuters that the company had updated the apps to ensure they are compliant once a relaunch is allowed.
The regulator said its investigation found that the ride-hailing giant had illegally collected millions of pieces of user information over seven years starting in June 2015 and carried out data processing that seriously affected national security.
Picture Credit: Reuters
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