Alibaba—Data breach exposed 11 billion data points affecting millions; government demanded Alipay user data access
A data breach exposed personally identifiable information including usernames, phone numbers, and email addresses, with 11 billion data points exposed affecting millions of users. In January 2021, Wall Street Journal reported Chinese regulators tried to make Ant share troves of Alipay data used by over a billion people, including spending habits, borrowing behaviors, and payment histories. Jack Ma had resisted authorities' attempts to access the data.
Scoring Impact
| Topic | Direction | Relevance | Contribution |
|---|---|---|---|
| Data Security | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| User Privacy | -against | primary | -1.00 |
| Overall incident score = | -0.429 | ||
Score = avg(topic contributions) × significance (high ×1.5) × confidence (0.57)× agency (negligent ×0.5)
Evidence (1 signal)
Data breach exposed 11 billion data points; regulators demanded Alipay user data
Data breach exposed PII including usernames, phone numbers, emails affecting millions. Wall Street Journal reported in January 2021 that Chinese regulators tried to make Ant share Alipay data from over a billion users including spending habits and payment histories. Jack Ma resisted data access demands.