Recruiting in China

RESUMES for job applications are believed to be the biggest source of Internet privacy invasions.

A survey of 300 people by 1010job.com, a city-based online human resources agent, revealed that 75 percent of the respondents complained that personal information from their resumes had landed in the hands of unauthorized companies.

Insurance companies lead the list of the most unwanted recipients of this information, followed by real estate agents and investment companies.

But the majority of the respondents (most of whom live in Shanghai) agreed that they did not mind if employment agencies or head hunters obtained the information.

"Insurance companies are really annoying. They keep calling my cell phone asking me to buy all sorts of insurance," said Jiang Wenwen, a graduating college student.

As a student, Jiang said that she had tried to restrict the amount of information she provided on the Web, except for the resumes she sent to employment agencies.

"My resume is probably the only way companies can get information about me," she said.

Jiang is not alone. More than half the respondents believed that online resumes were the source of the leaked information, although a quarter said that hard-copy resumes handed out at job fairs were also a likely source.

A few suggested that employment agencies themselves sold the information to companies.

In 2005, Xinhua News Agency discovered insurance companies buying university graduates' resumes at job fairs for one yuan (13 US cents) each.

Last year, law makers began drafting laws to protect personal information, including the possibility that employers who carelessly discard resumes might face legal action.

While most of the surveyed applicants wanted some protection of their privacy on the Internet, two-thirds agreed that it would be difficult to prevent personal information being leaked because of the demand for employment.