China’s internet regulator on Thursday fined ride-hailing giant Didi $1.2 billion for the company’s voracious data collection policies and lackluster security protections around sensitive user information. The Cyberspace Administration of China said it concluded a network security review of the company and found “illegal activities” and violations of the country’s Network Security Law, Data Security Law and Personal Information Protection law. The fine is the largest data protection penalty issued by China, and the second-largest fine imposed on a Chinese technology firm after regulators slapped Alibaba with a $2.75 billion fine last year following an anti-monopoly probe. The investigation of…