China's internet watchdog on Thursday fined ride-hailing firm Didi Global more than 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) following an investigation into the company's cybersecurity practices.
The probe found Didi violated China's network security law, data security law and a law protecting personal information, the Cyberspace Administration of China said in a statement.
A separate statement explaining the fine said Didi's “illegal operations” had brought “serious” national security risks, affecting the country's information infrastructure and data security.
Didi's chairman Cheng Wei and president Jean Liu were fined 1 million yuan ($148,000) each as they were held responsible for the company's violations, regulators said.
“Didi's violations of laws and regulations are serious, and in light of the network security review, they should be severely punished,” the statement read.
Didi illegally collected nearly 12 million screenshots and 107 million pieces of passengers facial recognition data and more than 167 million records of location data, among other information, regulators said. The company's violations first began in June 2015.
Didi said in a statement posted to its official Weibo social media account that it “sincerely” accepted the decision.
