With the wide application of the mobile Internet, the protection of users' personal information rights and interests has received more and more attention. Mobile APP account registration is easy to cancel, automated recommendation unsubscribe trouble and other issues have been criticized.
On December 14, the official website of the China Consumers Association released the "Evaluation Report on 50 APP Account Cancellation and Automated Recommendation And Unsubscription". Based on 50 apps such as Dida Travel, Taobao, Ele.me, Soul, China Southern Airlines, and Tencent Video, the China Consumer Association conducted evaluations on whether it is possible to smoothly cancel app accounts and unsubscribe from automated recommendations. The evaluation results show that the number of apps with problems in the two evaluation contents of the online car-hailing and catering takeaway categories is relatively large, and the five APP in the housing rental and sale category perform better, and no problems are found in the two evaluation contents.
The report shows that in terms of whether app accounts can be successfully cancelled, app such as Dida Travel, Taobao, and Ele.me has the problem of unreasonable cancellation conditions, the cancellation process of APP such as Soul, China Southern Airlines, and Tencent Video is set up unreasonably, and 6-person tour, Ctrip car rental, and Tencent Video cannot be directly cancelled through the APP. In terms of automated recommendation unsubscribe, 5 of the 50 APPS have different degrees of problems, accounting for 10% of the total troubleshooting.
Specifically, the evaluation report pointed out that in terms of whether the APP account can be successfully cancelled, 20 of the 50 APP apps 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. Among them, the cancellation conditions of Dida Travel and McDonald's show that after cancellation, they cannot use the same mobile phone number to register again for a certain period of time. The account information of Baihe Network and Wing Pay cannot be cancelled if it is outdated, and it is necessary to update the personal information before it can be cancelled. Wing Pay, Ele.me, and 1905 Movie Network require that accounts that are less than a certain registration period cannot be cancelled. Taobao, Happy Purchase, maple leaf car rental need to complete a certain period of time to cancel.
Third, the cancellation process is set up unreasonably. The apps involved are Soul, TT Voice, China Southern Airlines and Tencent Video. For example, the cancellation page of China Southern Airlines shows that there are 7 natural days for the date of cancellation as a cooling-off period, and during the cooling-off period, call 95539 to revoke it at any time, and China Southern Airlines will retain the information required for account cancellation as evidence.
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.
Infographic
In response to the issue of individual account cancellation, the Cyberspace Administration of China intends to make provisions. Nandu reporters found that on November 14 this year, the State Internet Information Office issued a notice on the "Regulations on the Administration of Network Data Security (Draft for Solicitation of Comments)", which proposed that when users proposed to terminate services or individuals cancel their accounts, data processors should delete personal information or anonymize them within 15 working days.
Article 22 of the Regulations on the Administration of Network Data Security (Draft for Solicitation of Comments) proposes to stipulate that when a user proposes to terminate a service or an individual cancels an account, the data processor shall delete personal information or conduct anonymization within 15 working days.
The problem that APP automation recommendation is difficult to close has also been a matter of great concern. It is understood that article 24 of the Personal Information Protection Law stipulates that information push and commercial marketing to individuals through automated decision-making methods shall also provide options that do not target their personal characteristics, or provide individuals with convenient ways to refuse. So in this review, how about the automatic recommendation of the APP?
The report shows that 5 of the 50 apps have different degrees of problems, accounting for 10% of the total inspection rate. 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.
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.
Written by: Nandu reporter Feng Yiran
Source: China Consumers Association official website, China Netinfo Network