China's Internet watchdog on Thursday fined ride-sharing company Didi Global more than 8 billion yuan ($1.2 billion) after an investigation into the company's cyber security practices.
The China Cyberspace Administration said in a statement that the investigation found Didi violated the Network Security Law, the Data Security Law and the Personal Information Protection Law of China.
In a separate statement, the fined department said Didi's "unlawful operations" caused "serious" national security risks, affecting the country's information infrastructure and data security.
The management said Didi Chairman Cheng Wei and Chairman Gan Liu were each fined 1 million yuan ($148,000) and were held responsible for the company's violations.
"Didi's violations of laws and regulations are serious, and in light of the network's security review, she must be severely sanctioned," the statement said.
He noted that Didi illegally collected nearly 12 million screenshots, 107 million pieces of facial recognition data for passengers, and more than 167 million records of location data, among other information.
The company's violations first began in June 2015. Didi said in a statement posted on her official account on the social networking site Weibo that she accepted the decision "welcomely".
"We will take this as a warning, and we will continue to pay equal attention to both security and development," she added, stressing that she will work for the "safe, healthy and sustainable" development of her business.
The decision comes more than a year after Didi announced that its shares would be listed on the New York Stock Exchange in June 2021.