Specific laws are needed to combat the theft of personal data, according to experts, after seven men were charged in Changsha, Hunan province, with selling more than 100 million bits of personal information online over the past five years.

Information included names and addresses of cell phone users, car owners, company bosses and bank customers, Legal Daily reported on Thursday.

The data were sold on the Internet and used to spam cell phones and illegal GPS devices, authorities said.