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Online Loans Made In China Using Nude Pictures As Collateral
HughPickens.com writes: There is more than one way to get a student loan in China as People's Daily Online reports that many Chinese university students use their nude pictures as IOUs on online lending platforms, putting themselves at the risks of having everybody -- including their parents -- see them naked. Borrowers are also required to upload pictures of their ID cards and report their family information, including their address and cellphone numbers. "The nude photos will be made public if the borrowers fail to repay their debts with interest," an insider was quoted as saying. The credit varies based on the borrower's education background. Usually an undergraduate student can receive 15,000 yuan ($2,277) in credit, while those studying at famous universities as well as doctorate students can receive even larger loans. Snapshots of threatening collection messages have also gone viral, with a photo of a female borrower and a message reading how the lender would send the photo and her naked video footage to her family members if she could not pay back her 10,000 yuan borrowed on an annual interest rate of 24 percent within a week. "Naked IOUs started long ago. Not only university students but many others also borrowed money with nude pictures," says insider surnamed Zhang. Zuo Shenggao from Jingshi Law Firm says that nude photos are actually invalid as collateral in terms of laws. "Nude photos are not property. It is in the category of reputation rights," says Shenggao. "If anyone threatens to publish the photos online, they will violate the clients' reputation. At the same time, they are also spreading pornographic material. Both are illegal and they will commit double offense,"
What's to stop someone from sending a random nude pic they get from the Internet? I see that they also need to upload an ID card, but since it's being sent electronically, it would be trivial to replace the photo in the image of the ID card with the face of the person in the nude pic. It doesn't sound like a very reliable way to secure a lone. And there are some people who just don't care who sees them naked. If that weren't the case, there'd be no pornography industry. This really doesn't sound like a good business model.
If I can be modded down for being a troll, can I be modded up for being an orc, or a balrog?
I've got a '95 Escort Wagon with 43,000 miles on it. One of the best cars I've ever owned. Old enough to vote, and the last major expense I had to sink into it was adding freon to the AC and a new set of tires in 2014. Looks like new except my wife put a little crack in the back bumper during a snow storm last year backing out of our parking spot in the alley. And I'm the second owner. It has zero resale value, which is just how I like 'em. I could practically leave the keys in the damn thing and not have to worry.
In Illinois, a car that old doesn't need to have emissions testing either, so I save money there. My wife gets new cars. I love my '95 Escort. I don't drive very much, but last year I took that car from Chicago to Connecticut and back. Not so quick over the hills in Pennsylvania, but it got me there. And it's so nondescript that cops leave me completely alone. I don't even get stopped for driving while old the way I do when I drive the wife's Audi.
You are welcome on my lawn.
There are some big cultural differences about nudity between America and China. The Edison Chen Photo Scandal destroyed the careers of several Chinese and Hong Kong actresses. In America it is the opposite: nude photos/videos generate publicity and boost careers. Paris Hilton became famous and made millions after her sex tape went public. Vanessa Hudgens was stuck in teenybopper roles until her nude selfies made her seem ready for mature roles.