HowToLiveBetter.THE BETTER LIFE HANDBOOK
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YOUR LIFE, YOUR OWN PACE

Legal traps for programmers and other technical workers

Explore each chapter to understand the effort, benefits and context.

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This chapter measures the stakes in personal freedom and money: avoiding detention and financial liability. People who write code often regard these activities as purely technical, but Chinese law attaches specific criminal offenses or civil liabilities to them. Entries give statutory figures and cases published by China's Supreme People's Procuratorate and Supreme People's Court. Criminal Law citations use the consolidated text incorporating Amendment XI, reprinted by Beijing's traffic police. Entries are ordered by how readily technical workers may underestimate the risk and how serious the consequences can be. The first entry explains what to consider before acting and what to do if an investigation begins. All legal rules and RMB amounts here concern China.

Ideas for a better everyday

Choose what fits your life.
⌘ K
Found:17 ideas
Safety & law

Before acting, ask whose interests are affected, how capable they are of pursuing you and what evidence you leave; get a criminal lawyer immediately if investigated

Consider whether the affected organization might report you. Logs, payments and chats can all become evidence. After criminal detention, the arrest-approval decision may take up to 37 days. You may appoint a lawyer from the first interrogation; this early period is especially useful for criminal defense.

C Experience & consensus
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not build or sell game cheats or assists, including AI tools that only read the screen

In China, providing relevant hacking tools on 20 person-occasions or earning RMB 5,000 can meet the serious-offense threshold, carrying up to 3 years; particularly serious cases carry 3–7 years. A wallhack/aimbot seller with over RMB 80,000 in three-month sales received one year suspended for one year and a RMB 5,000 fine. A private-server case involving over RMB 20 million in top-ups produced sentences up to 4 years and fines up to RMB 10 million.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not write or sell ticket-sniping, flash-sale, fake-order or promotion-abuse scripts merely because they “only click buttons”

A script that sends requests faster than people, without modifying memory or cracking software, can still lead to conviction in China. RMB 5,000 in proceeds or RMB 10,000 in losses can meet the threshold. Someone using purchased 12306 accounts to obtain over 200 tickets for over RMB 20,000 profit received 1 year 6 months suspended for the same period and a RMB 5,000 fine. An online seller of ticket-sniping software paid RMB 20,000 for unfair competition.

A Stronger evidenceHigh value
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Limit crawlers to public pages requiring no login; do not bypass protections, collect personal data or sell the results

Bypassing access protection can carry up to 3 years, or 3–7 years in serious cases, under Chinese law. Personal information adds further risk: 50 records of movements, communications content, credit or assets can meet a serious-offense threshold; so can 500 accommodation, health or transaction records, 5,000 other personal records, or RMB 5,000 in proceeds.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not take gambling, fraud or pornography app contracts, or build payment channels and restore accounts for such clients

Developers can be treated as accomplices in operating a casino under Chinese law, facing up to 5 years or 5–10 years in serious cases, rather than the 3-year maximum for the separate offense of assisting online crime. Twenty-eight developers of an esports betting app received 1 year to 3 years 6 months. Someone restoring QQ accounts for a fraud group received 1 year 6 months and a RMB 20,000 fine.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Hand over accounts when leaving a job; do not delete databases, leave backdoors or lock systems, even if wages are owed

A company-issued password does not authorize continued access after departure. Unauthorized control can carry up to 3 years in China. Deleting data so systems cannot operate carries up to 5 years, or more for especially serious consequences. A dismissed senior engineer who used an old administrator account to delete data and logs caused over RMB 120,000 losses and received 3 years suspended for 5 years, plus RMB 30,000.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not take source code, client lists or technical documents when leaving, upload them to personal storage or reuse them at your next job

Code you wrote can belong to the company, and client lists can be trade secrets. Taking them means taking company property. One former employee who reused security-screening source code at a new company received 5 years and RMB 500,000; the new company was fined RMB 4 million. Downloading over 33,000 design files through a vulnerability brought another defendant 1 year 10 months. Civil damages can follow as well.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not run your programs on other people's computers, servers or cameras without permission, or mine cryptocurrency on company machines

In China, unauthorized control of 20 computers, servers or cameras meets a serious-offense threshold carrying up to 3 years, or 3–7 years when particularly serious. Conduct below the criminal threshold can still bring up to 5 days' detention and RMB 50,000–500,000 in fines. Criminal punishment also brings a lifetime bar from key cybersecurity-management and network-operation roles.

A Stronger evidenceHigh value
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not test someone else's systems without written authorization; good intentions and later reporting do not erase an offense

Authorization and what you obtain matter, not merely your intention. In China, obtaining 500 ordinary credential sets, earning RMB 5,000 or causing RMB 10,000 loss can trigger a serious-offense threshold carrying up to 3 years. Exporting one user table to prove a flaw can exceed 500 sets. Possessing credentials does not authorize using them outside their permitted scope.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Report vulnerabilities through the required channels; before repair, do not publish details or exploit tools or send unpublished issues abroad

China's Network Product Security Vulnerability Management Provisions apply to individuals too. They restrict publication before a fix, details about vulnerabilities in systems currently in use, and dedicated exploitation tools. Public disclosures must include repair or prevention measures. Unpublished vulnerabilities may not be provided to overseas organizations or individuals other than the product provider.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Do not sell circumvention tools or VPN accounts, or build such nodes for others

Under China's international-networking rules, using or establishing international channels outside the state public channels can bring an order to stop, a warning, a fine up to RMB 15,000 and confiscation of proceeds. Commercial operations may be prosecuted as illegal business operations, carrying up to 5 years in serious cases. This entry concerns selling and building nodes; the source describes personal use as subject to warning and fine.

B Research supportHigh value
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

If post-employment non-compete compensation stops, demand payment in writing; after three unpaid months, seek termination, and challenge clauses where you never accessed trade secrets

In China, a non-compete can bar work for competitors for up to 2 years, with monthly compensation. If no amount was agreed, compensation is 30% of average wages over the preceding 12 months, at least the local minimum wage. Three months unpaid for reasons attributable to the employer lets you request termination. Since 2025, workers who never knew or accessed trade secrets may ask a court to confirm that the clause has no effect.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Keep personal open-source work on your own time and equipment, separate from company code

Under Chinese law, software mainly made with company equipment, networks or business data and for which the company bears responsibility belongs to the company, with the author retaining attribution; contractual assignment can have the same result. After-hours work can still belong to the company if it uses those resources. Inventions made using company resources can also produce company-owned patents.

A Stronger evidence
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Follow GPL and other open-source licenses: disclose source when required or choose different licensing

In China, copyright damages may follow the owner's loss or the infringer's profits, and intentional serious infringement can bring 1–5 times damages. A company recruited a competitor's former employee and made substantially similar software, then argued that the original used GPLv2 and should have been open source. The Supreme Court held that the original developer's own licensing compliance was separate from copyright ownership and ordered infringement to stop plus RMB 500,000 compensation.

B Research support
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Collect only personal information an app needs, obtain guardian consent for children under 14 and explain practices clearly

China's rules require necessity and guardian consent for children under 14. Violations first bring correction orders and possible app suspension. Refusal can bring up to RMB 1 million, with RMB 10,000–100,000 for responsible staff. Serious cases can bring up to RMB 50 million or 5% of the preceding year's turnover, with RMB 100,000–1 million for responsible people, potentially including developers and product staff.

B Research support
No costQuick and easy
Safety & law

Complete the required ICP filing before releasing a website or app, and retain at least six months of logs under classified-protection rules

Filing is free and takes weeks. The source states that mainland-hosted domains cannot resolve without it and that refusal to correct can close a site. Failure to show the filing number on the homepage carries RMB 5,000–50,000. Operating a paid service under a noncommercial filing can bring RMB 100,000–1 million. Keep logs for at least 6 months; failure to correct or resulting consequences can bring RMB 10,000–100,000.

A Stronger evidence
Small costSome time
Safety & law

Before offering generative AI to the public, complete applicable security assessments and algorithm filings, and label generated content

A public generative-AI service capable of shaping opinion or mobilizing people must undergo the required security assessment and algorithm filing, including updates or cancellation when it changes or closes. Generated images and videos need labels. Private tools not offered publicly fall outside these requirements. Penalties come through laws such as the Cybersecurity Law.

B Research support
No costSome time

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