Home / Top News Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read | Comment
Chinese Celebrity Contact Numbers Leaked
Adjust font size:

Alarm about privacy has been triggered with the phone numbers and addresses of nearly 400 Chinese mainland celebrities being disclosed on the Internet in October. 

Many stars have been bombarded with calls from strangers. Some are fans while others are pranksters, the Beijing Times newspaper reported Wednesday.

"I've received a few calls asking to me to solve personal problems," said actor Zhang Tielin, who has played a Chinese emperor in a popular TV series. "It seems to me some of them have mental problems and confuse my real identity with the roles I've played in movies."

He complained that his mobile phone was sometimes drained of power in half-a-day with the number of incoming calls.

Pop star Zang Tianshuo said he received two text messages early this week. One was from a fan and the other from an organization that claimed to be collecting money for charity.

Pop idol and expectant mother Sun Yue said she was happy to receive the occasional call from a fan but emphasized "please don't call after midnight."

Ye Lin, law professor at Beijing's Renmin University of China, said stars should be more careful with their phone numbers. "Tell them only to your family, good friends and agents," he said. “Tell other people only the number of your agent." 

He also suggested the stars engage lawyers to protect their rights. "It's not easy to find the source of a leak in a short time but at least they can demand websites stop carrying such information," said Ye.

News stories about the information leak abound on the Internet but websites carrying phone numbers of the 400 showbiz stars were no longer seen on search results of major search engines by noon Wednesday.

In June last year the private numbers of nearly 600 celebrities were revealed on the Internet. Zhang Guoli, a film director who was one of them, made a movie The 601st Call based on the incident.

Analysts say such practices are aimed at raising website profiles. Yang Lixin, a Beijing lawyer, said they violated privacy and the law.

However, there've been no reports of lawsuits against perpetrators. Analysts suggest the stars fear if the cases go to court the verdicts will be published on the websites and more personal information will be disclosed.

The Chinese Performing Artists Association is considering setting up a system by the end of this year to safeguard the rights and interests of its members.

(Xinhua News Agency November 2, 2006)

 

Tools: Save | Print | E-mail | Most Read
Comment
Pet Name
Anonymous
China Archives
Related >>
Most Viewed >>
- Yu Quan plays new year's concert