It's hard to log out of your account! China Consumer Association: 20 apps have different degrees of problems

On December 14, the China Consumers Association released the "50 APP Account Cancellation and Automated Recommendation Unsubscription Evaluation Report", in terms of whether it is possible to successfully cancel app accounts, 20 of the 50 apps have different degrees of problems, accounting for 40% of the total inspection ratio. In terms of automated recommendation unsubscription, 5 of the 50 apps have different degrees of problems, accounting for 10% of the total troubleshooting ratio.

In accordance with the 39 common APP types listed in Article 5 of the Provisions on the Scope of Necessary Personal Information for Common Types of Mobile Internet Applications, and in accordance with the principles of different types of necessary personal information and close relationship with consumers' daily lives, the China Consumers Association selected a total of 50 APP apps in 10 categories such as online car-hailing, instant messaging, online payment, online shopping, catering and takeaway, transportation ticketing, housing rental and sale, car service, online live broadcasting, and online audio-visual as the evaluation objects. According to the evaluation results, the number of apps with problems in the two types of assessment content in the online car-hailing and catering takeaway categories is relatively large, and the housing rental and sales APP performs better, and no problems are found in the 5 APP tested on the two types of evaluation content.

Overall evaluation results of account cancellation Image source: The official website of the China Consumer Association

The evaluation results show that in terms of whether the APP account can be successfully cancelled, 20 of the 50 APPS have different degrees of problems, accounting for 40% of the total investigation 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.

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 rectification suggestions and interview advice to the App's 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.