Hotel data leak suit goes to court in Shanghai

A case involving the leaking of 20 million hotel guests' check-in information got its first court hearing in Shanghai on Friday, the Mirror Evening News reported.

Wang Jinlong sued Hanting Starry Sky (Shanghai) Hotel Management Ltd and the Zhejiang Huida Yizhan Network Co for leaking his as well as about 20 million other people's check-in information between 2010 and 2013.

He is seeking compensation of 200,000 yuan ($32,970).

The leakage was reportedly due to a serious security hole of one of the defendants, Zhejiang Huida, known to be China’s biggest digital hotel information facilitator.

The information included names, genders, nationalities, mobile phone numbers and other personal details, which exposed some of the victims to harassment including telemarketing, Wang said.