Chinese job boards Zhaopin, 51job and Liepin have set up investigation teams and boosted oversight after a television show revealed that all three job boards had leaked user data, according to Yicai Global.

CCTV’s 315 Show, revealed the information during the state broadcaster’s annual name-and-shame consumer rights programme.

Global Times reports that the progamme aired on Monday for World Consumer Rights Day. This year's show largely concentrated on the use of facial recognition technology, online job boards, food safety and healthcare advertising.

China Media Group, which produced the show, said the three job boards sold personal information to companies, with data also leaked to the black market.

In a statement, Zhaopin said it will upgrade its tech measures, including adopting electronic business licensing, enhancing its system audit mechanism, using machine learning to identify potential risks and automatic background alarm.

Since January 2021, Zhaopin has been using a virtual intermediate number for individual users’ numbers, making it impossible for recruiters to see a candidate’s real phone number, it added.

Meanwhile, 51Job has strengthened its procedures for reviewing registration qualification, and began fully implementing real-name authentication and facial recognition for corporate accounts.

Zhaopin does not reveal job seekers’ names and contact information in search results but it does allow unlimited downloads of their resumes for anyone who has a paid corporate account, without the consent and awareness of the individuals. Zhaopin responded that corporate account holders should not disclose biodata but as the firm lacks management and monitoring of downloaded resumes it has not taken steps to prevent the flow of CVs into the online black market.

Shine.cn also published screenshots showing how easy it is for anyone to download a CV from Zhaopin.com.

According to Yicai Global, the Administrative Provisions of Online Recruitment Services, the first departmental regulation covering China’s online recruitment sector issued by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, came into effect on 1 March 2021. It requires HR agencies to review the authenticity and legality of the materials provided by employers, and not to disclose and illegally sell or provide personal information collected by them to others. It added that violators will be punished.

Zheng Lei, director of the Hong Kong International New Economic Research Institute said platforms with such private information have a legal responsibility and obligation to avoid such problems, and organisations or individuals who sell and abuse such information break the law.

The three firms have said they will boycott all illegal acts that infringe on the rights and interests of job seekers, and make joint efforts to build a safe and healthy environment for their users.

In 2019, up to 160,000 CVs uploaded on Zhaopin were allegedly stolen and leaked by two former employees. In 2018, it was reported that more than 1.9 million user accounts were hacked at 51Job.com.