Asia Tech Wire (July 24) -- A China Mobile user was asked to provide social security information when unblocking his phone card, a report said.

A Shenzhen netizen previously said on a social media platform that he went to an official store to unblock his China Mobile phone card, which he had been using for 14 years, he was told that he needed to provide information about his participation in the city's social security program.

However, the person said he was unable to provide that information due to moving to another place.

A staff member of China Mobile's Shenzhen branch said Tuesday that there are two ways to unblock a phone card.

One is to unblock it within the China Mobile App, which requires inputting an ID number for real-life verification. If this method fails to unblock, users will need to go to an official physical store to do so, the staffer said.

However, the staff said that if users adopt the second method to unblock the phone card, they need to bring their ID card and social security card, and social security should be paid for more than six consecutive months.

This is to prove that the user is working in the local area, the China Mobile employee said.