A vice president of Baidu, China’s largest search engine company, has issued an apology after his daughter allegedly leaked the personal information of a netizen who criticized IVE’s Jang Wonyoung.

On March 18, Chinese media reported that Xie Guangjun, a vice president at Baidu, admitted via social media that his 13-year-old daughter had engaged in an online dispute over a Korean celebrity, which escalated into a privacy breach.

“My daughter had a disagreement about a Korean celebrity in an online discussion. She later used overseas social media to expose the other person’s personal information,” Xie wrote. “As a father, I failed to educate my daughter properly about respecting others and protecting personal privacy. I feel deeply guilty and sincerely apologize to those affected.”

The incident reportedly began when a pregnant netizen posted critical remarks about Jang Wonyoung. In response, a woman, later revealed to be Xie Guangjun’s daughter, initiated a cyberattack against the critic, claiming she was not afraid of police intervention as she was based in Canada and her father was a high-ranking executive at Baidu.

Her identity was eventually uncovered by other netizens, linking her to Xie Guangjun.

Xie Guangjun joined Baidu in 2010 and was promoted to vice president in 2021. Following the controversy, Chinese netizens have raised concerns over Baidu’s data security, suspecting that personal information may have been accessed through the company’s database.

As the fallout continues, public scrutiny is increasing over both corporate responsibility and privacy protection in China’s digital landscape.

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