The resident, surnamed Chen, has reportedly been receiving hundreds of phone calls a day from strangers after his phone number was clearly seen in an episode of the drama.
Some of the viewers believed the number was actually related to the actors in the drama and have called or sent text messages to it. This has seriously affected Chen's daily life and also his e-commerce business.
Chen is reluctant to give up the number as he has been using it for many years and it is connected to many bank accounts and mobile phone apps.
Chen's lawyer believes that the producers and other companies related to the drama used the phone number randomly without knowing its ownership. It has seriously affected the owner's privacy and right of communication through the display.
Six other companies including the online distributors and the TV station which is airing the drama also received the lawyer's letter.
It demanded an immediate halt to the infringement, compensation and open apologies from these companies. The letter added that the companies should make effort to end the infringement within seven days after receiving the letter, otherwise Chen will sue them.
So far, only V.QQ.com has replied to the letter, saying the company will deal with the phone number in the drama after seeing relevant evidence provided by Chen.
This was not the first time that the exposure of people's private information has made news headlines in China.
Authorities in Anhui and Jiangxi provinces have taken action after media reports said that citizens' personal information, including names and ID numbers, were exposed on their official websites.
Other information related to the privacy of citizens was also removed after similar incidents were reported with the official websites of some Chinese universities.
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