According to CCTV news, the China Consumers Association recently released an App account cancellation and automated recommendation unsubscribe evaluation report. According to the evaluation results, in terms of whether the App account can be successfully cancelled, 20 of the 50 Apps evaluated this time have different degrees of problems, accounting for 40% of the total inspection ratio.
Chen Ang, Legal Department of the China Consumers Association: The main problems are that one is that the cancellation conditions are not indicated; the second is that the cancellation conditions are set unreasonably; the third is that the cancellation process is set unreasonably; the fourth is that the cancellation can be cancelled after manual review, but the manual review has no one to accept, the commitment time limit is too long or the commitment time limit is unclear; the fifth is that it cannot be directly cancelled through the App.
The reporter noted that 20 mobile apps in this evaluation were notified due to cancellation problems: these 20 Apps were Wanshun Taxi with no cancellation conditions; Dida Travel, Lily Network, Wing Payment, Taobao, Happy Purchase, Hungry Mo, McDonald's, Maple Leaf Car Rental and 1905 Movie Network had unreasonable cancellation conditions; Soul, TT Voice, China Southern Airlines and Tencent Video Cancellation Process were set unreasonably; Love Snap, Heshi Takeaway, China Southern Airlines, Mengguo and Hug Live needed to be manually reviewed and cancelled However, the manual review has problems such as no one accepting, the commitment time limit is too long (more than 15 working days), and the commitment time limit is unknown; in addition, 6-person tour, Ctrip car rental and Tencent Video cannot be directly cancelled through the App.
In recent years, with the development of the mobile Internet, various mobile app applications have emerged in an endless stream, covering all aspects of people's daily lives. The popularity of mobile app applications has provided convenience for consumers' food, clothing, housing and transportation, and problems have also emerged.
The reporter's investigation found that at this stage, in order to win customers, the registration process of mobile apps on the market is mostly simple and fast, and consumers only need to fill in the corresponding personal information to achieve "one-click registration". Some even do not need to register separately, enter the mobile phone number, verification code directly login, the default registration is successful. However, at the same time, the reporter found that some mobile apps are difficult to cancel once successfully registered, either the process is too cumbersome, or the cancellation option cannot be found, which brings trouble to consumers.
The China Consumer Association selected 50 apps in 10 categories that are closely related to consumers' daily lives for evaluation, including online car booking, instant messaging, online payment, online shopping, catering takeaway, transportation ticketing, housing rental and sales, car service, online live broadcasting and online video and audio; the content of the evaluation includes whether it is possible to successfully cancel the App account and unsubscribe from the automatic recommendation.
Xiong Dingzhong, member of the lawyer group of the China Consumer Association: In the actual evaluation work, we found that when a large number of enterprises provide users with cancellation links, one situation is that there is no opportunity to cancel at all, that is, users can not see any choice of cancellation of accounts in the entire App interface, and some I can let you register online, but I do not agree with your online cancellation, you have to play manual customer service to cancel the account, and there will be a lot of communication links. There is also a situation where the process of deregistration is very complicated, and one of the core situations is that it is difficult for you to get it done.
Among the 20 mobile apps with problems in deregistration, the problem of unreasonable setting of the deregistration process is particularly prominent, and many mobile apps can be completed with one click when registering, but the deregistration process is too complicated.
The reporter noted that this social App was notified by the China Consumer Association due to unreasonable cancellation process settings. The mobile app stipulates in its user instructions that "the cancellation application will be processed within 7 days, and the application will be notified by SMS, and the cancellation will be confirmed again on the cancellation page after notification." That is to say, consumers who want to cancel their accounts need to wait up to 7 days, during which they need to apply for cancellation, then receive text messages, and finally confirm again to complete the cancellation.
Evaluator Zhang Xue: We think that under normal circumstances, consumers who do not want to use this app can voluntarily and voluntarily go to the account cancellation operation in this software with one click, but this (process) is more complicated, so we think it is unreasonable.
This online video app is a head product in similar mobile phone applications, with many users. The reporter noted that in the Apple App Store alone, the number of ratings and reviews of this app exceeded 20 million. The registration process of this mobile app is quite simple, and even without separate registration, as long as the user social account or mobile phone number is directly logged in to become a member.
However, the reviewers found that it was not easy for the mobile app to cancel the membership account. Evaluators told reporters that the general mobile App's cancellation option can be found in the personal center or settings, but the app's logout button is hidden in the third level of "privacy settings", and they spend several times more time looking for the cancellation option in the evaluation than other apps. If you are an average consumer, you are likely to take longer or may not find the option to sign out at all.
Not only that, during the investigation, the reporter found that this online video and audio app also set a 15-day cancellation lock period in the cancellation process.
Evaluator Zhang Xue: After the user submits a cancellation application, the App will provide a 15-day retention period, and then wait for 15 days before completely canceling the account, we believe that the 15-day lock-up period is not necessary, the user wants to cancel the account when in fact (the enterprise) should allow him to cancel in time.
Evaluators told reporters that during the 15-day cancellation lock-in period, consumers' nicknames, avatars and other personal information remained inside the platform and would not be deleted.
Evaluator Zhang Xue: At the moment when the user submits the account cancellation application, in fact, he has revoked the authorization of the software to use his personal information, and the software should not continue to use the user's personal information. However, the software in the 15-day retention period is the lock-in period, other users can still see the user's avatar nickname, equivalent to the software is actually still continuing to use the user's personal information, we think this is also unreasonable.
In the investigation, the reporter found that there are many problems with the same difficulty of setting up unreasonable cancellation procedures to embarrass consumers, but the means are not the same.
This is a well-known catering takeaway app. The reporter noted that in the Apple App Store, the download rating of this app exceeded 1.3 million, and many users will need to use this app more than once in life.
Evaluators told reporters that the app showed on its cancellation page: "It is impossible to register again within six months from the date of cancellation." In other words, once the consumer chooses to cancel the app for half a year, it will not be able to register again.
Evaluator Zhang Xue: This software now has a very wide user base, and everyone may frequently use a catering takeaway software in daily life, which is actually to set a cancellation condition by increasing psychological barriers to users to achieve the purpose of preventing users from logging off.
Compared with increasing the difficulty of logging out through public rules, some mobile apps block deregistration by setting limits on operation. One of the more typical practices is that the mobile app cannot be operated and logged off within the software, and the enterprise customer service hotline must be called to complete the cancellation. Evaluators told reporters that such a cancellation process does not seem complicated, but in actual operation, the time and energy spent by evaluators is the most.
This traffic travel App can be completed inside the software when registering, and the reporter noted that the App collected a number of sensitive personal information such as the consumer's name, mobile phone number, and ID card number during registration. Customer service calls are required to log out.
The reporter learned that the evaluation work lasted for nearly a month, during which the evaluators tried to call the customer service number many times but ultimately failed to complete the cancellation.
During the interview, the reporter learned that in response to the problems found in this evaluation, the China Consumer Association has sent rectification suggestions to the enterprises belonging to the mobile app respectively, requiring app operators to conscientiously carry out self-examination and rectification in accordance with relevant laws, regulations and standard norms, clearly state reasonable cancellation conditions, provide convenient cancellation paths, and ensure that users can smoothly cancel their accounts. Some mobile app companies have rectified their own cancellation conditions and processes, but there are also a large number of App companies that have not yet completed rectification.
Chen Ang, Legal Department of the China Consumers Association: In response to the problems found in the evaluation, we will send relevant exhortation letters to all App operators, asking them to give us written feedback on the rectification situation before December 31, and if there is no rectification or rectification in place, we will also carry out follow-up supervision work in accordance with the law.
During the investigation, the reporter learned that for the cancellation of mobile App accounts, China's corresponding laws and regulations have clear provisions: Article 24 of China's "E-commerce Law" stipulates that "e-commerce operators shall clearly indicate the methods and procedures for user information inquiry, correction, deletion and user cancellation, and must not set unreasonable conditions for user information inquiry, correction, deletion and user cancellation." ”
The "Information Security Technology Personal Information Security Specifications" provide, "Personal Data Subjects' cancellation of accounts, requirements for Personal Data Controllers: The cancellation process should not set unreasonable conditions or put forward additional requirements to increase Personal Data Subjects' obligations." ”
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society: The E-commerce Law clearly stipulates that e-commerce operators must not correct and delete user information inquiries, including setting unreasonable conditions for user cancellation, which is very simple and convenient when registering, but if unreasonable obstacles are set up at the time of deregistration to restrict consumers from canceling accounts, it is obviously an illegal act.
Experts told reporters that there is a great practical risk behind the problem that mobile app registration is easy to cancel, although this risk does not seem to be direct.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society: It may seem difficult to define how much loss a user has, or it may be difficult to really prove and defend their rights, so many consumers who encounter this kind of problem think that they are unlucky, or simply forget it and give up the cancellation. Then his account has always been on the top, in the future, this platform, because it is not often used, the risk of personal information leakage will obviously be much greater, and the leakage of personal information may cause hidden dangers to the user's personal and property safety.
The reporter's investigation found that one of the results of the difficulty of mobile App cancellation is that consumers are likely to be unable to complete the cancellation. The account cannot be cancelled, and the user's personal information is still retained on the App platform, and discarding it will pose a threat to the security of consumers' personal information.
Another problem that is not uncommon is that in addition to general personal information, a large number of apps also collect personal sensitive information such as the user's mobile phone number and ID card number, and some apps with payment services are also bound to bank cards, and once these personal information is leaked, it may also bring economic losses to consumers. The difficulty of canceling mobile apps has become an urgent consumer pain point to be solved.
Legal experts have called on consumers to pay attention to the cancellation of the apps they use, and suggested further clarifying the specifications for the cancellation of mobile apps.
Chen Yinjiang, deputy secretary-general of the Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law Research Association of the China Law Society: In the future, on the one hand, it may be necessary to clearly stipulate (deregistration) in legislation, including relevant standards, for example, there are several processes when registering before, then when deregistering, it can only be the corresponding process, and the process cannot be deliberately increased. Second, in response to this obvious unreasonable cancellation conditions, the relevant departments should investigate and deal with it in accordance with law, for example, those who should be ordered to rectify and reform should be ordered to rectify, and those who should be subject to corresponding administrative punishment should be given corresponding administrative punishments.
Edited by Linzhi Sun