Why was the son-in-law detained for helping his mother-in-law find out about his father-in-law’s extramarital affair?

In 2014, Zhaoqing City resident Lin suspected that her husband Yang was having an extramarital affair and entrusted his son-in-law Liang Moufei to investigate. From February 2014 to April 2016, Liang Moufei was entrusted by his mother-in-law to provide Eternal, Skynet, Maitreya, and Qizhong citizen information to others through the Internet. He spent 80,000 yuan to purchase various citizen information including the whereabouts of 120 people, communication content, communication records, accommodation information, transaction information, household registration information, vehicle information and other information. * * * 17588, and transferred the above relevant information to my mother-in-law, which resulted in my mother-in-law's divorce. My father-in-law compensated my mother-in-law 1 million yuan. The father-in-law also transferred the ownership of two commercial houses in Duanzhou District to Liang Moufei.

On December 2016, the Duanzhou Branch of the Zhaoqing Municipal Public Security Bureau discovered that Liang Moufei had purchased other people’s information, opened a case for investigation on suspicion of infringing on citizens’ personal information, and took criminal detention measures against him.

On June 2, 2017, the Duanzhou District People’s Procuratorate of Zhaoqing City accepted the case for review and prosecution. After review, it was determined that Liang Moufei’s illegal purchase of various types of citizens’ personal information through the Internet violated the provisions of Article 253 of the Criminal Law of the People’s Republic of China and infringed upon citizens’ personal information.

Prosecutors suggested that the 2009 "Criminal Law of the People's Republic of China" add the crime of infringement of citizens' personal information, which would include "violating relevant national regulations, selling or providing citizens' personal information to others, if the circumstances are serious" and "stealing or using Behaviors such as “illegally obtaining citizens’ personal information through other methods” are included.

Among them, "citizen personal information" refers to various types of information recorded electronically or by other means that can identify the identity of a specific natural person or reflect the activities of a specific natural person alone or in combination with other information, including name, ID number , communication contact information, address, account password, property status, whereabouts, etc.

In order to help her mother-in-law find out about her father-in-law’s extramarital affair, Liang Moufei illegally purchased citizens’ personal information through the Internet. This is an act of infringing on other people’s personal privacy and should be punished for the crime of infringing on citizens’ personal information.