Huawei's Czech unit collected personal data for Chinese embassy

PRAGUE — A new investigative report has revealed that former Huawei employees in the Czech Republic routinely collected and shared sensitive client data with Chinese government officials.

Two former managers at the Czech unit of Chinese telecom giant Huawei told Czech public radio that they had to enter people's personal details into an internal database, separate from commercial data.

This included details like number of children, personal interests, and financial situation.

One manager said access to the information stored in the Customer Relationship Management system or CRM is managed from the company's headquarters in China."

"It was also standard practice for Huawei employees to share the information they gathered at meetings with Chinese embassy officials.

The second employee claimed they had to gather information on state officials, mainly department directors or deputy ministers, who would then be invited to a conference or a trip to China.

In response to the allegations, Huawei provided a written statement stating it was in compliance with General Data Protection Regulation rules that protect EU citizens' privacy.

However, the Czech National Cyber and Information Security Agency had warned in December 2018 that Chinese laws require companies headquartered in China to cooperate with intelligence services.

Huawei has repeatedly denied working with the Chinese government, but according to Radio Praha, an employee was arrested in Poland early this year on suspicion of spying.