Baidu Sued Over Claim It Illegally Obtained Users’ Data

Baidu Inc., China’s largest search-engine operator, is being sued by a consumer-protection organization that claims it collected users’ information without consent, in the latest privacy dispute involving the country’s tech giants.

Two mobile apps operated by New York-listed Baidu, a search engine and a web browser, could access a user’s calls, location data, messages and contacts without notifying the user, the Jiangsu Consumer Council, a government-backed consumer rights association, claimed in a statement on its website.