Fears of data abuse as Chinese health code turns red for financial scandal protesters

Bank customers whose deposits are frozen unable to join protests in Zhengzhou because their health QR codes turned red, declaring them a risk to public health

A bank client in Shenzhen was blocked from public places and public transport; another in Shanghai calls a red health code in Henan a ‘deposit code’

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People protest in front of the Henan branch of the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) demanding “return our money” in Zhengzhou city, central China’s Henan province. Photo: Weibo

Published: 4:23pm, 14 Jun 2022Updated: 8:22pm, 14 Jun 2022

Victims of what could be one of China’s largest financial scandals found themselves unable to step outside to join planned protests because their health QR codes had turned red, reigniting fears that the large-scale data collected for contact tracing would be abused for other uses.

Since late May, hundreds of people have taken to the streets in China’s central Henan province, calling for authorities to ensure the return of their deposits that were frozen in four rural banks in the province.

The deposits at Yuzhou Xinminsheng Village Bank, Shangcai Huimin County Bank, Zhecheng Huanghuai Community Bank and New Oriental Country Bank of Kaifeng have been frozen since April 18, amid rising risk of recession for the world’s second-largest economy.

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The People’s Bank of China (PBOC) said in a statement in April it had launched investigations into the four banks.

Chinese regulators have not confirmed the amount of money that has been frozen, but depositors who have formed groups on various social media platforms to air their grievances claim the figure totals tens of billions of yuan.

Local media quoted the China Banking and Insurance Regulatory Commission (CBIRC) last month as saying a probe had found that Henan Xincaifu Group Investment Holding, a private investment firm with stakes in all four lenders, colluded with bank employees to illicitly attract public funds via online platforms, resulting in the deposits being frozen.

Zhang, who owns a small factory in Jiaxing, Zhejiang province, had planned to travel to the Henan capital Zhengzhou to protest on Monday. On Saturday, he found his Zhengzhou health code – which is used to indicate Covid-19 exposure status – had turned red. At that point, he had not yet stepped outside the city and he returned a negative nucleic acid test result on Saturday.