Rebirth 2010: I taught Mr. Lei how to make a mobile phone

Chapter 849 A Bunch of Bastards!

The ride-hailing war in China has been going on for years, with the drama of division and reunification playing out repeatedly.

While ride-hailing services have an advantage, it is difficult to directly eliminate competitors from the market level.

However, business battles don't always have to be fought head-on; a bad guy's clever idea might have unexpected results.

Unfortunately, Chen Mo had the advantage of being a "prophet," already knowing the general direction of events.

In his previous life, Chen Mo remembered this incident as full of suspicious points: the schedule was unusually rushed, the timing was intriguing, and the person seemed to ignore it.

Other companies go public with great fanfare, ringing the bell, holding press conferences, and inviting global media to promote their companies. They all want to grab all the headlines and trending topics. They do whatever it takes to make a big splash, because the bigger the publicity, the better it is to boost the company's market value.

Otherwise, why would the founder of a certain internet giant, when he went public, parade around North America like a peacock, making those bewildered foreigners think he was running for president?

However, the company's listing was strangely low-key—there was no celebration ceremony, no promotional articles, and even the most basic bell-ringing ceremony was omitted. The company's management and investors did not even post a single message on their WeChat Moments, which is unheard of.

Something unusual must be going on!
This time, with a taxi in hand, Chen Mo had a deeper understanding of the matter.

Whether it's group buying, food delivery, travel, or ride-hailing companies, collecting user information to create profiles for personalized recommendations and big data trend analysis is a necessary step, but excessive collection should be avoided.

Some companies are eager to expose every detail of users' information: photos in albums, copied and pasted text, frequently used apps, facial recognition data, social networks, home addresses, company information...

It is no exaggeration to say that everyone is online and has no privacy whatsoever.

Focusing on ride-hailing companies, the origin, destination, and companions of users who take a ride on weekends, and even their words and actions in the car, such as whose wife Old Wang takes to a hotel, can all be clearly found, as they are all recorded on the server.

Just like some people's information, if you want to find it, you can find it in a minute, but if you can't find it, then it's not a technical problem.

But now, all this information is in the hands of companies, who can monitor and access it at will.

For ordinary people, our own information may seem worthless, but the information of hundreds of millions of people combined is a treasure trove and can become an important source of intelligence for some countries.

Among these hundreds of millions of people, are there no researchers, government officials, or leading cadres?
If their addresses, workplaces, relationships, and contact information were all exposed, the consequences would be unimaginable.

Chen Mo remembered that there was once a highly promising strategic talent who disappeared after taking a taxi home in the middle of the night. This was news that he, as an ordinary person, knew through his information channels at the time.

How many does he not know?
Just like the traffic big data that ride-hailing services currently possess, which can be used to determine current traffic convenience points and population and industry clusters, even just audit reports, financial statement notes and related inquiries contain a huge amount of information.

It can even be used to judge major policies and measures.

If the Beyond Research Institute wanted to, it could easily analyze the flow of people in relevant departments through real-time mobile travel big data—a sudden and frequent abnormal movement at a certain time period would most likely indicate that something was happening behind the scenes.

This is why, even though taxi companies have foreign investment, they only grant them dividend rights, not voting rights.

The decision to list on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange was also made because, while the Hong Kong Stock Exchange requires the disclosure of material information, it clearly stipulates that data involving national security must comply with mainland laws.

But listing in the US is a completely different story:
User information of those engaged in sensitive professions may be exposed;
Privacy information is at risk of being leaked;

Map data is under serious threat.

The reason why Google was forced to withdraw from the Chinese market, and why even a giant like Apple had to set up a data center in Guizhou, is to reduce risk.

However, once a company goes public in the US, it's not a matter of how much risk it carries; its nature changes completely.

If someone absconds with money, as long as the amount is not large, there is harm, but it is not that serious.

However, if a company encounters a problem, it can cause enormous trouble.

This is also why Chen Mo is so resentful about this matter; the memory is too vivid, and he hates this kind of behavior to the core.

When LeEco was in crisis, he wanted to keep Jia Yueting in China because he didn't want another channel for transferring benefits.

Of course, he also admitted that Lao Jia's live-streaming e-commerce has great potential and can bring considerable benefits to Douyin.

One interesting point in the materials submitted by the previously deployed monitoring team was that the independent director of this ride-hailing company was a graduate of West Point and had been an intelligence officer.

This alone is quite intriguing. Combined with the information about the "captures" from the battle between the two sides by the taxi company, the clues begin to become clear.

No wonder that over the past year, as ride-hailing services have been operating at a loss and squeezing the market, competitors have been able to follow suit with equal力度 (intensity/effort), even launching "one-yuan rides" in some areas—this long-term subsidy, which goes against the interests of capital, is clearly for ulterior motives.

It seems that their ultimate goal is to collect massive amounts of data through capital expansion.

Now there's finally a reasonable explanation.

In addition to collecting personal information and data, ride-hailing companies like these also collect real-time road information.

Every ride-hailing vehicle is voluntarily collecting information on roads and street views along its route, ultimately creating the most detailed real-view map on the entire network.

The value of this data is even greater than that of money on another level, and it belongs to a type of strategic resource.

In fact, when ride-hailing services went public last year, Chen Mo was testing whether competitors would follow suit, essentially throwing out bait.

But he underestimated the other party's patience and refused to take the bait. But no matter how well the fox hides, its tail will eventually be revealed.

Chen Mo not only guessed the general direction of the matter, but also a rough timeframe, which was the first of next month—Army Day!
This time, Lao Jia's return to China next week is not included.

Then they can forget about sneaking onto the market.

Fines of millions and product rectification and removal from shelves are too lenient.

A glint flashed in Chen Mo's eyes as he began to construct a defensive framework in his notebook.

An hour later, Lu Qi arrived at the office as summoned.

After hearing Chen Mo's speculation about Didi's possible IPO in the US, he instantly realized the seriousness of the matter—the Snowden Prism scandal was only two years ago, and he still remembered it vividly.

"This is a common tactic used by the Americans. The PRISM program is just one of the most ordinary of their many surveillance programs."

Lu Qi said in a deep voice, "Not only Apple, but when I was at Microsoft, many systems had similar modules installed."

In the early years, Windows piracy was rampant in China, and Microsoft not only couldn't control it, but even tacitly approved of it, which illustrates this point.

The intelligence system across the strait aims to 'collect everything,' with maintaining its hegemony at its core. It wants to spy on every corner at all times, leaving no stone unturned—phone calls, faxes, emails…

Chen Mo sighed: "That's why we need to develop our own communications, chips, and systems... The great power competition of today is no longer about airplanes, cannons, and machine guns."

"What do you need me to do?"

"Make sure the group's business develops well during this period. The reason I'm letting you know in advance is because I need to allocate some resources!"

"Don't worry, I've got the company covered!"

"Yes, feel free to communicate if there are any problems."

Half an hour later, in the conference room next door.

When Chen Mo entered, Zhang Changfa, Chen Tong, Xu Chaojun, Zhang Xiaolong, and Li Dajin all stood up.

Looking at these old comrades who had fought alongside him all along, Chen Mo smiled and waved his hand: "Why are you being so polite? Please sit down."

"The matter I have gathered here to discuss is of little importance to the other side."

But for the nation and its people, it is of paramount importance!

Upon hearing this, the group of people who had been relaxed immediately sat up straight, their eyes revealing a hint of excitement.

It's been a long time since I've worked with the big boss on a tough battle, and I'm starting to miss that exhilarating feeling.

Then Chen Mo pulled out his traditional skill, walked to the whiteboard next to him, and began to write and draw, revealing all his speculations about the competitor's listing plan, the potential harm it might cause, and the approximate timeline...

"Those who mislead the country and its people are traitors."

After hearing his boss's assessment, Li Dajin, the head of the legal department at Bi'an Law Firm, had already mentally reviewed countless applicable legal provisions.
"If this is true, what legal consequences will the person in charge of Dajin face?" Chen Mo asked.

Li Dajin stood up and spoke rapidly: "Based on what you just said, the relevant responsible persons may be involved in the following crimes:"
Article 111 of the Criminal Law [Crime of Stealing, Spying on, Buying, or Illegally Providing State Secrets or Intelligence to Foreign Countries];
Article 219 [Crime of Infringing Trade Secrets];
Article 253-1 [Crime of Infringing on Citizens' Personal Information];
There are also related responsibilities under the Cybersecurity Law.

He paused, then added, "The specific sentencing depends on the sensitivity of the data: whether it involves national security and public interest."
Scale of the leak: How many users were involved and what was the amount of data?

Subjective intent: Was it provided intentionally or due to mismanagement?

And whether it causes actual harm.

If the leaked data involves national security, those responsible may face imprisonment of 10 years or more, or even life imprisonment.
If it's just ordinary personal information or trade secrets, the sentence is approximately 3-7 years.

Based on the scenario you described, with multiple offenses combined, 10 years is just the starting point. If national security is endangered, the death penalty is not out of the question.

"Is it possible to just pay a fine? Like a 100 million yuan fine?"

"Absolutely impossible! This violates criminal law, not economic law!"

Li Dajin thought about it. Although it was theoretically true, in reality, as a well-known legal professional in the capital, he had seen countless unbelievable cases.

In the end, I couldn't help but add, "Of course, under special circumstances, the possibility you mentioned cannot be ruled out."

"Wow, that's what you call professional!" Chen Mo gave him a thumbs up. "Have a seat."

Then, he placed his hands on the table, leaned forward, and his gaze was sharp as a knife:

"Based on the information we have so far, this is very likely to become a reality."

Now, let's brainstorm and think of a way to get these bastards in!
Let’s get started!

(End of this chapter)