Some of the students' information of Chinese Minmin University was illegally obtained, and the Haidian police: the suspect is a graduate of the university and has been criminally detained
What crime is Ma suspected of?
There has been new progress in the theft and leakage of some student information of Chinese Minmin University. On July 7, Beijing Haidian police reported that after investigation, the suspect Ma Moumou (male, 3 years old, graduate of the school) was suspected of illegal access to the personal information of some students of the school and other illegal and criminal acts. At present, Ma has been criminally detained by the Haidian Public Security Bureau in accordance with the law, and the case is under further investigation.
What crime is Ma suspected of? In addition to pursuing their criminal liability, what about civil tort liability? Will an earned degree be revoked? The Beijing News reporter interviewed experts and lawyers on this.
Event review
The female student's face score webpage involved in the information leakage incident
On July 7, it was reported online that a graduate of Chinese Minmin University had stolen the personal information of school students and created a public web page. People who enter the webpage can rate the school's girls' appearance. Screenshots of the webpage show that the leaked information includes student number, name, college, place of origin, birthday, photo, etc.
Some university alumni posted that the graduate studied at Chinese Minmin University and is currently working for an Internet company.
On July 7, Chinese Minmin University issued a circular: Yesterday, the university has paid attention to the illegal acquisition of some student information in our university, attached great importance to this, contacted the police as soon as possible, and is actively cooperating with the police and other relevant departments to carry out investigations. The school strongly condemns acts that infringe on personal privacy and endanger information security.
The police report preliminarily confirmed that the graduate, Ma Moumou, had committed illegal and criminal activities such as illegally obtaining personal information.
Claim 1
What crime may Ma constitute?
What crimes may Ma Moumou commit? Ai Jing, a senior partner at Beijing Yingke Law Firm, told reporters that from the content of illegally obtained information, Ma was suspected of infringing on citizens' personal information. The information involved in the case is information that identifies the identity of a specific natural person or reflects the activities of a specific natural person, and is the target of the crime. The amount of information obtained by Ma, the amount of illegal gains, the economic losses caused, and the social impact will further affect his conviction and sentencing.
Secondly, from the perspective of the means of illegally obtaining information, Ma is suspected of the crime of destroying computer information systems. Since the information involved in the case is stored in the school's server, if Ma uses technical means to steal the information involved in the case from the server, resulting in overloaded server load and normal operation, etc., resulting in damage to the computer system, he may touch the crime. "Of course, the above two crimes are implicated in the means and the end, and generally a felony punishment should be chosen." Ai Jing said.
Claim 2
What should I do about civil tort liability after a criminal case is filed?
Although Ma has been criminally filed by the public security organs, it does not mean that there is no civil liability.
The Civil Code stipulates that if a civil entity shall bear civil, administrative and criminal liability for the same act, the bearing of administrative liability or criminal liability shall not affect the bearing of civil liability; Where the property of the civil entity is insufficient to pay, priority shall be given to bearing civil liability.
Ai Jing pointed out that from the screenshot of the webpage, the leaked information included student number, name, college, place of origin, birthday, photos, etc. Among them, the act of disclosing and using the portrait rights holder's portrait without the consent of the portrait rights holder has violated the portrait rights of the person with the stolen information; In addition, leaking information such as another person's student number, place of origin, and birthday is a violation of personal information, and if it contains private information, it may constitute an infringement of privacy. In addition, Ma Moumou has scored and ranked the appearance of some students, and if it contains insulting and defamatory content, it may also infringe on the reputation rights of others.
"If the student whose information has been leaked has already filed a civil lawsuit with the court on the same facts before the criminal case is filed, the trial of the civil case can generally be suspended in accordance with the practical principle of 'sentencing before the people', or the case materials can be directly transferred to the competent public security organ or procuratorial organ." If, after a criminal case is filed, the student whose information has been leaked files a civil lawsuit with the court for the same facts, in principle, it will not be accepted repeatedly. Ai Jing pointed out that in either case, after the criminal judgment takes effect, if there is an unfinished reason, the student who has been leaked still has the right to file a civil lawsuit.
In addition, in mass crimes such as infringement of citizens' personal information and telecommunications network fraud, the perpetrator not only infringes on personal rights and interests, but also harms the public interest, "In such cases, the procuratorial organ may file a criminal incidental civil public interest lawsuit, compensate citizens for the loss of personal information, eliminate the adverse impact, and promote criminal prosecution and public interest protection as a whole." Ai Jing pointed out that if it is confirmed after investigation that Ma Moumou has sold citizens' personal information to others for profit, etc., it cannot be ruled out that the procuratorate may initiate a public interest lawsuit.
Claim 3
Will the degree Ma obtained be revoked?
According to reports, it is suspected that Ma Moumou has shown off on social platforms that he has obtained information about school students, and said that "it is a bad thing that I want to accomplish in my sophomore year." If Ma Moumou really committed an illegal or criminal act while in school, can the school revoke his degree?
Zhan Zhongle, vice president of the Administrative Law Research Association of the China Law Society and professor at Peking University Law School, pointed out that the existing regulations clearly state that the situation in which degrees should be revoked is mainly due to academic misconduct and other acts to obtain academic certificates and degree certificates. He believes that there is no clear legal basis for revoking a degree due to committing a crime while in school, and "one yard should be one yard at a time, and the degree previously awarded cannot be revoked because of a crime." ”
The Regulations of the People's Republic of China on Academic Degrees stipulate that if a degree-conferring unit discovers serious violations of the provisions of these Regulations such as fraud or fraud, it may revoke the degree that has been conferred upon reconsideration by the Degree Evaluation Committee. The Ministry of Education's Regulations on the Management of Students in Ordinary Colleges and Universities clarifies that schools shall cancel their student status and shall not issue academic certificates or degree certificates to those who obtain admission qualifications or student status in violation of the national enrollment regulations; Academic certificates and degree certificates that have already been issued shall be revoked by the school in accordance with law. Where academic misconduct such as cheating, plagiarism, plagiarism, or other improper means are used to obtain academic certificates or degree certificates, the school shall revoke them in accordance with law.
Cai Hailong, deputy dean of the Institute of Education Policy and Law of the College of Education of Capital Normal University, pointed out that as far as the revocation of degrees is concerned, the current regulations and departmental rules only provide principle provisions for academic misconduct or other improper means to obtain academic certificates and degree certificates. Those who commit illegal or criminal acts while in school may be expelled from school in accordance with the Regulations on the Management of Students in Ordinary Schools of Higher Learning.
"If you are expelled from school, it proves that your legal relationship with the school is dissolved, you cannot participate in the thesis defense, and you cannot obtain a degree. Having a student status is a prerequisite for obtaining a degree. But if a criminal act committed while in school is discovered after the degree is awarded, this raises a question that needs to be studied. Cai Hailong pointed out that that it is the problem of whether it can be traced.
Cai Hailong told reporters that there is no corresponding explanation for whether it can be retroactively expelled from the student and then revoked the degree.
Claim 4
Does the school need to be held liable for information breaches?
The PIPL stipulates that information processors are obliged to ensure the security of the personal information they process, ensure that personal information processing activities comply with the provisions of laws and administrative regulations, and prevent unauthorized access and leakage, alteration and loss of personal information.
Ai Jing pointed out that if the school causes the leakage of student information due to intentional or gross negligence, it may bear corresponding responsibility. "In this case, the school contacted the police as soon as it saw the netizens break the news and cooperated with the investigation. Judging from this series of reactions, the school attaches great importance to this matter and actively cooperates. Of course, this incident also sounded the alarm for the data management of major universities. ”
On July 7, the reporter contacted the Information Technology Center of Chinese Minmin University on this matter. Center staff said that the personal information of current school students is safe. Regarding how Ma obtained a large amount of student information and whether the school would strengthen the protection of student information in the future, the staff replied: "I don't know, wait for the notice." ”
Claim 5
Will Ma still be able to engage in network-related work in the future?
Cyber security is becoming increasingly important with the high level of informatization of society. According to reports, Ma worked for an Internet company before the incident, engaged in network technology work. If he is eventually sentenced, will he still be able to work in the future?
Article 27 of the Cybersecurity Law stipulates that no individual or organization may engage in activities that endanger network security, such as illegally intruding into others' networks, interfering with the normal functions of others' networks, or stealing network data; Do not provide programs or tools specifically used to engage in activities that endanger network security, such as intruding into the network, interfering with the normal functions and protective measures of the network, stealing network data, etc.; Where it is known that others are engaged in activities that endanger network security, they must not be provided with technical support, advertising promotion, payment and settlement, or other assistance.
Persons who violate the above provisions and are subject to public security administrative punishments must not engage in work in key positions in network security management and network operations for five years; Persons subject to criminal punishment must not engage in work in key positions in network security management and network operations for life.
"If Ma is criminally punished, according to the Cybersecurity Law, he will be banned from working in key positions in network security management and network operation for life. If after filing and investigation, it is determined that he has not yet constituted a criminal offense, and only public security administration punishment is imposed on him, Ma still has a 5-year prohibition period for practicing business. Ai Jing told reporters. (Beijing News reporter Xing Haiyang)