This is one of those 'shocking but not surprising' stories. The head of the company in Shenzhen (lots of dark stuff goes on in that city) calls it a 'Hybrid War' - though i still think Data War is better.

"A Chinese company with links to Beijing's military and intelligence networks has been amassing a vast database of detailed personal information on thousands of Australians, including prominent and influential figures."

"Information collected includes dates of birth, addresses, marital status, along with photographs, political associations, relatives and social media IDs."

"While much of the information has been "scraped" from open-source material, some profiles have information which appears to have been sourced from confidential bank records, job applications and psychological profiles."

"The company's chief executive Wang Xuefeng, a former IBM employee, has used Chinese social media app WeChat to endorse waging "hybrid warfare" through manipulation of public opinion and "psychological warfare"."

"The database was leaked to a US academic based in Vietnam, Professor Chris Balding, who until 2018 had worked at the elite Peking University before leaving China citing fears for his physical safety.

"China is absolutely building out a massive surveillance state both domestically and internationally," he said".