China rolls out its first-ever smart card

BEIJING: The smart card system has been introduced in a Chinese city for the first time on Monday. The event coincided with a court verdict meting out the first-ever conviction in the country for theft and misuse of personal information.

Wuxi, one of the most modern small cities of China, has unveiled the first batch of smart cards that contain barcodes containing crucial information about card holders . The smart cards, which are being rolled out for the first time in China, will enable their users to perform a wide range of tasks.

The barcodes on the cards contain finger prints and personal information like date of birth, blood group, social security number and bank card numbers. It will carry the name and photograph of the card holder.

The local administration of Wuxi is making arrangements for the use of smart cards in bank ATMs, buildings equipped with electronic guard system and even for allowing parents to pick up their children from high-guarded kindergarten schools. It will later add more information to the smart cards and widen the scope of its use.

In another development, a court in China’s Guangzhou city sentenced a man to one and a half year in prison for violating the security of personal information that include unlisted phone number and call histories of important people.

Prosecutors told the court that Lin Guiyu bought personal information of senior officials and used it to swindle several people. He used the information to impersonate as the vice mayor of Zhuhai in Guangdong province while asking for money in return for official favors.

Lin led a gang that committed five such crimes and cheated people of $121,554 after impersonating different officials including the Communist Party secretaries of Foshan and En’ping , official sources said.