Chinese hackers accused of collecting US citizens’ information

US President Donald Trump’s administration has released classified intelligence documents that claim Chinese hackers have been collecting information on American citizens and government officials.

The documents, which were made public on Thursday, do not provide evidence that China directly interfered in the US election or manipulated its outcome. However, they do suggest that Chinese hackers attempted to monitor the email accounts of staff members associated with Joe Biden’s 2020 presidential campaign.

According to the documents, a Chinese group mapped the network of the campaign and prepared for potential future cyber access. Other reports indicate that Chinese government-affiliated hackers downloaded voter registration data from various US states, some of which was publicly available.

Although the documents do not provide evidence that China used the collected data to interfere in the election or target voters, they do suggest that the personal information could be used for future cyber espionage, computer network infiltration, or election influence campaigns.

The documents paint a picture of Chinese intelligence agencies’ long-term efforts to collect personal and digital information from millions of American citizens. US officials have previously warned that China may have obtained vast amounts of personal data from American citizens through large-scale cyberattacks on government agencies, healthcare providers, and other organizations.