The existence of private detectives has been controversial in China. Unlike investigation offices, private detectives belong to private individuals and investigate other people's privacy for money. Whether private detectives break the law or not depends on the means they take in investigation and evidence collection.
It is illegal to take surveillance, taking photos and other actions to gain personal privacy, but many detectives will take advantage of the loopholes in the law and wander in the gray area.
Extended data:
1993, the Ministry of Public Security issued a notice prohibiting any unit or individual from setting up various forms of private detective offices such as civil investigation offices and public security investigation offices. The businesses explicitly prohibited include: accepting civil and economic disputes, recovering debts, consulting on safety technology, and investigating personal privacy.
At the end of 2002, the Trademark Office of the State Administration for Industry and Commerce adjusted the scope of trademark classification registration, expanding the original 42 categories of goods and services trademark registration to 45 categories, among which the newly added permitted registration categories include providing private bodyguards, detective companies, tracing investigations and other "security services".
However, allowing registration does not mean that private detectives are prohibited in China. The Zhejiang Provincial Administration for Industry and Commerce said that successful trademark registration does not mean that you can engage in business activities covered by trademarks. The business activities of an enterprise must be strictly limited to the scope approved by the industrial and commercial business license. At present, enterprise registration has not involved the scope of detectives.
Despite all kinds of restrictions, in recent years, more and more companies have taken the name of "transaction investigation center" and "transaction investigation office". Public affairs investigation agencies have a wide range of business, including tracing people, emotional loyalty investigation, children's behavior monitoring, large debt recovery, whereabouts investigation, credit investigation, intellectual property investigation, counterfeiting and rights protection, economic intelligence investigation and so on.
According to Min Xu, director of the Organizing Committee of China Business Survey Hangzhou Summit in 2003, there are about 1000 such legal or unincorporated organizations in China, with tens of thousands of employees.
Zhejiang Wanma Law Firm, the organizer of this conference, has set up an unincorporated institution, namely the Public Affairs Investigation Center.
Chang Jianjun, executive director of the law firm, said that the public affairs investigation center undertakes the functions of "collecting evidence" and "investigating public affairs" of the law firm. "Public affairs investigation is not equal to private detectives. There is no real private detective in China."
References:
People's Daily Online-Private detectives investigate companies that illegally sell citizen information.
References:
Baidu encyclopedia-private detective