China’s DiDi fined over $1 billion for data security laws violation

DiDi, the Chinese vehicle for hire company headquartered in Beijing, has been fined by its country’s own cybersecurity authority. The company is being ordered by the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) to pay a hefty $1.19 billion or 8.026 billion yuan for breaching data security law.

According to CNBC, DiDi was also penalized for violation of personal information protection law and China’s network security laws. It was revealed on Thursday, July 21, that the announcement of the penalty marks the conclusion of a year-long investigation. While the probe was ongoing for about a year, the ride-hailing giant was also unable to add new users.

In addition, the cybersecurity administration also imposed a separate one million yuan fine each on two executives - Didi’s chairman and chief executive officer, Cheng Wei, and company president, Liu Qing. The publication could not reach the company for comments, but in its statement that was posted online, the company shared it accepted the regulators’ decision.

"We will take this as a warning and pay equal attention to both security and development," BBC News quoted the company as saying in a post via China’s Weibo social media platform.

At any rate, it is not clear if the fine also means that DiDi can now resume accepting new users or if it can return to the app stores in China. The probe on the company was first announced last year, not long after DiDi went public on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

The cybersecurity regulators went after the company after it proceeded with its IPO plans despite having issues with the regulatory board concerning data security. As a result, less than six months after filing for IPO, DiDi said it would be delisting from the NYSE and would list in Hong Kong instead.

Didi's shares reportedly stopped trading on the New York Stock Exchange since then. For its decision, the CAC explained on Thursday that it found conclusive evidence related to security law violations against DiDi. Finally, in accepting the penalty, the firm said it would be carrying out comprehensive and in-depth self-examination to avoid any offense again.