Excessive collection of personal information? China Consumer Association: 20 APPS have different degrees of problems

The China Consumer Association released the "50 APP Account Cancellation and Automated Recommendation Unsubscription Evaluation Report" today (14th), showing that in terms of whether it is possible to successfully cancel APP accounts, 20 of the 50 APP have different degrees of problems, accounting for 40% of the total inspection ratio. The main problems are: First, the cancellation conditions are not indicated. The APP involved is Wanshun taxi. Second, the cancellation conditions are set unreasonably. The apps involved are Dida Travel, Lily.com, Wing Pay, Taobao, Happy Shopping, Ele.me, McDonald's, Maple Leaf Car Rental and 1905 Movie Network. Third, the cancellation process is set up unreasonably. The apps involved are Soul, TT Voice, China Southern Airlines and Tencent Video. Fourth, it can be cancelled after manual review, but the manual review has no one to accept, the commitment time limit is too long (more than 15 working days), or the commitment time limit is unclear. The apps involved are Love Snap, Heshi Takeaway, China Southern Airlines, Mengguo and Hug Live. Fifth, it is impossible to directly cancel through the APP. The apps involved are 6-person tours, Ctrip car rentals and Tencent Video.

In terms of automated recommendation unsubscribe, 5 of the 50 APPS have different degrees of problems, accounting for 10% of the total troubleshooting. The main problems are: First, the APP does not provide users with a way to turn off automated recommendations. The apps involved are Cao Cao Travel, Wing Pay and Heshi Takeaway. Second, the way to close the automation recommendation in the APP is too hidden. The apps involved are Didi Chuxing and Alipay.

Overall, the number of apps with problems in the two evaluation contents of the online ride-hailing and catering takeaway categories is relatively large, and the five APP in the housing rental and sales category perform better, and no problems are found in the two evaluation contents.

It is understood that this evaluation will be the "Notice on Printing and Issuing" (State Information Office Secretary [2021] No. 14) listed in Article 5 of the 39 common APP types, into the collection of necessary personal information in a wide range and without the use of personal information can use the basic functions of the two categories, and in accordance with the principle of "eating, living, traveling, shopping and entertainment" and other close relationships with consumers' daily life, based on the different downloads of APP, selected online car-hailing, instant messaging, online payment, online shopping, catering takeaway, transportation ticketing, There are 10 categories of housing rental and sales, car service, online live broadcasting, online video and audio, and a total of 50 APP apps in each category are used as evaluation objects, and the evaluation content is whether it is possible to smoothly cancel the APP account and unsubscribe from the automatic recommendation.

In view of the problems found in the evaluation, the China Consumer Association recommends that all APP operators conscientiously carry out self-inspection and rectification in accordance with the Cybersecurity Law, personal information protection law and other relevant laws and regulations and standard specifications, clearly indicate reasonable cancellation conditions, provide convenient cancellation paths, ensure the smooth cancellation of users' accounts, and set up convenient automatic recommendation and unsubscription methods to continuously improve relevant user agreements and privacy policies.

The China Consumer Association also reminds consumers that after accepting personal information terms or providing personal information to business operators, they should also pay attention to whether the business operators' personal information terms are modified at any time, whether the business operators have the ability to ensure the security of personal information, and whether the business operators have illegally handled personal information. When consumers do not agree with the business operator's continued processing of their personal information, they should actively exercise the right to "withdraw consent" and require the business operator to stop processing or delete their personal information in a timely manner.

In view of the problems found in this evaluation, the China Consumer Association will also send time-limited rectification suggestions and interview advice to the APP-affiliated enterprises. If the relevant enterprises fail to rectify in time, the China Consumer Association will carry out follow-up supervision work in accordance with the law.

Source: CCTV News