Sickening
What worried free speech activists, critics of internet censorship and the like has finally happened: Yahoo's cooperation with Chinese authorities helped China jail journalist.
That's sickening news.
I wonder has any lawyers commented on this case? Doesn't Hong Kong has a Privacy Protection Act or the like that makes it unlawful for any organization to disclose its customers' personal information unless there is a court order from its jurisdiction? (Although in reality, I believe the Chinese government can find ways to get Yahoo provide any information it wants without having to go through the courts.)
Update: This bit in today's Christian Science Monitor clarifies some of the confusions I had over Yahoo Hong Kong's legal obligations in answering court orders on the mainland.
However, Rebecca Mackinnon argued otherwise. Yahoo has legal obligations to cooperate with Chinese authorities because its servers reside in China. But that need not to be the case.
Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder: "The government asked for the documents and backed it up with a court order. We had to hand over the documents. We have to comply with the law." He told the Washington Post:
Committee to Protect Bloggers sent a letter to Media Relations at Yahoo! Inc., questioning their behavior.
Will Yahoo ever provide information to the Chinese government about its users worldwide who are not necessarily using Yahoo China's services or aren't residing within Chinese borders? Hm...I wonder...
CSR-Asia has some advice for internet companies doing business in China.
Update: The Terms of Services in Yahoo Mail or Gmail grant companies the right to disclose your information to authorities in your country or elsewhere. Friends in China, please read this note of caution too on the personal security risks of using email or blog services provided by foreign companies with a presence in China.
"Reporters Without Borders said court papers showed that Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. gave Chinese investigators information that helped them trace a personal Yahoo e-mail allegedly containing state secrets to Tao's computer. Yahoo Holdings (Hong Kong) Ltd. is part of Yahoo's global network."
That's sickening news.
I wonder has any lawyers commented on this case? Doesn't Hong Kong has a Privacy Protection Act or the like that makes it unlawful for any organization to disclose its customers' personal information unless there is a court order from its jurisdiction? (Although in reality, I believe the Chinese government can find ways to get Yahoo provide any information it wants without having to go through the courts.)
Update: This bit in today's Christian Science Monitor clarifies some of the confusions I had over Yahoo Hong Kong's legal obligations in answering court orders on the mainland.
"Legally, Yahoo is not obligated to cooperate with Chinese police. Yet in practice it may have to. Unanswered so far are the terms by which Yahoo Hong Kong, operating under the "one country two systems" formula that allows autonomy, was forced to conform to Chinese requests, despite its Hong Kong registry."
However, Rebecca Mackinnon argued otherwise. Yahoo has legal obligations to cooperate with Chinese authorities because its servers reside in China. But that need not to be the case.
"If Shi Tao's email account had been hosted on servers outside of China, Yahoo! wouldn't have been legally obligated to hand over his information."
Jerry Yang, Yahoo's co-founder: "The government asked for the documents and backed it up with a court order. We had to hand over the documents. We have to comply with the law." He told the Washington Post:
"We don't know what they want that information for, we're not told what they look for. If they give us the proper documentation and court orders, we give them things that satisfy both our privacy policy and the local rules."
"I do not like the outcome of what happens with these things," Yang added. "But we have to follow the law."
Committee to Protect Bloggers sent a letter to Media Relations at Yahoo! Inc., questioning their behavior.
Will Yahoo ever provide information to the Chinese government about its users worldwide who are not necessarily using Yahoo China's services or aren't residing within Chinese borders? Hm...I wonder...
CSR-Asia has some advice for internet companies doing business in China.
"Internet companies seeking to reduce reputational risk in places like China might want to ensure full transparency about the services they provide (i.e., to ensure clients know that they will pass on their information to the state if requested), and two, they also might want to have a public policy (or at the very least an internal one) on where they draw the line (or not, as the case may be) on such requests."
Update: The Terms of Services in Yahoo Mail or Gmail grant companies the right to disclose your information to authorities in your country or elsewhere. Friends in China, please read this note of caution too on the personal security risks of using email or blog services provided by foreign companies with a presence in China.
