News Desk
BEIJING — A massive, unsecured database containing the personal information of over 1.8 million women in China, including their phone numbers, addresses, and a disturbing “BreedReady” status, was discovered online, sparking widespread concern about privacy and potential misuse. The database, uncovered by Dutch internet researcher Victor Gevers of the GDI.Foundation, was accessible until it was taken down on Monday afternoon, local time, after Gevers publicized its existence.
The database, hosted on a server in China, included detailed fields labeled in English, such as sex, age, education, marital status, and the enigmatic “BreedReady” designation. Experts speculate this term may be a mistranslation of Chinese phrases indicating whether a woman has children or is of childbearing age. The average age of the women listed was 32, with the youngest being just 15. Nearly 90% were marked as single, and 82% were listed as residing in Beijing.
Gevers, who has previously exposed a surveillance database tracking millions in Xinjiang, stumbled upon the cache while scanning for unsecured databases in China. “Our primary concern was getting it secured as soon as possible,” he told The Guardian. He shared screenshots of the database over the weekend, highlighting fields like “political” affiliations, “hasvideo” markers, and links to what appeared to be Facebook profiles—an odd detail, given that Facebook is blocked in China and accessible only via VPNs.
The breach has ignited fears about its implications, especially amid China’s aggressive push to reverse its declining birthrate. The government has rolled out incentives and campaigns to encourage women to have more children, following decades of restrictive family planning policies like the one-child rule. Women’s rights advocates worry that such a database, whether tied to a government registry, a dating app, or another entity, could be used to pressure women into motherhood. The term “BreedReady” has drawn particular scrutiny, with some Chinese internet users on platforms like Douban comparing the situation to dystopian narratives like “The Handmaid’s Tale.”
“Is this the prologue to something much worse?” one user wrote on Douban. Another remarked, “This kind of database is terrifyingly indicative of what’s possible. The signs are already there.”
The database’s origins remain unclear. Some IT experts suggest it could stem from a dating platform, possibly linked to a prior hack. In 2015, the Chinese dating site Jiayuan was breached by a researcher exposing its vulnerabilities, raising speculation about similar weaknesses. Others hypothesize a hacker may have scraped data from multiple sources to compile the cache. Gevers said he was reaching out to individuals whose profiles were linked to verify if they had knowingly shared their information.
The incident underscores China’s broader struggles with data security and privacy. Despite stringent internet controls, unsecured databases have repeatedly exposed sensitive information, from surveillance records to personal details. The inclusion of Facebook links in the database has puzzled researchers, as it suggests either sophisticated circumvention of China’s Great Firewall or inaccuracies in the data.
As of April 21, 2025, no official statement has emerged from Chinese authorities or potential companies involved, and Gevers has not reported further updates on the database’s source. Efforts to contact affected women are ongoing, but the scale of the breach—1.8 million records—complicates the task. On Douban and other forums, discussions continue, with some users expressing resignation. “This kind of data is everywhere,” one wrote, reflecting a grim acceptance of privacy erosion.
The exposure of the “BreedReady” database has amplified calls for stronger data protection in China and heightened scrutiny of how personal information, particularly women’s, is collected and used. For now, the questions outnumber the answers, leaving millions to wonder who had access to their lives—and what they intended to do with it.
