Facial recognition is required for online shopping and payment, which is excessive collection of information! Multiple departments have taken action to protect the rights and interests of consumers

Recently, the "Regulations for the Implementation of the Law of the People's Republic of China on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests" (hereinafter referred to as the "Regulations") was officially released. On April 9, the State Council Information Office held a regular briefing on the policies of the State Council to introduce the relevant situation of the "Regulations".

At the meeting, the heads of the State Administration for Market Regulation, the Cyberspace Administration of China and other departments responded to hot issues in the field of consumer rights protection, such as big data killing, excessive collection of personal information, and malicious claims.

(Photo source: China News Network)

"Free is not exempt"

Liu Jun, deputy director of the State Administration for Market Regulation, introduced that the "Regulations" clearly need to form a common governance system that combines law-abiding operators, industry self-discipline, consumer participation, government supervision and social supervision.

Liu Jun pointed out that it is necessary to make the market run in a more orderly manner. The "Regulations" focus on the implementation of the main responsibilities of operators, and refine the obligations of operators under the Consumer Law. For example, centering on the protection of consumers' personal and property safety, it stipulates that in addition to ordinary goods and services, gifts should also be safe, and "free of charge is not exempt from liability"; centering on truthful disclosure of information, it lists the common situations of false publicity, and also stipulates that the elderly shall not induce consumption by fabricating or exaggerating the effects of treatment, health care, and health preservation; and centering on the protection of consumers' right to tranquility, it stipulates that "sales information" cannot be sent without authorization, and "sales calls" cannot be made without authorization.

At the same time, it makes government protection more powerful. The "Regulations" strengthen the leading role of the government, stipulating that governments at all levels should strengthen guidance on the protection of consumer rights and interests, specifically to organize, coordinate and supervise the relevant administrative departments to do a good job in the protection of consumer rights and interests. The Regulations refine the responsibilities of relevant administrative departments, such as requiring timely handling of complaints and reports, carrying out consumer early warnings and risk warnings, increasing supervision and law enforcement, and strengthening legal popularization, administrative guidance and compliance guidelines for business operators, and stipulates a series of responsibilities.

In addition, it is necessary to make social supervision more effective in protecting the rights and interests of consumers. For the first time, the Regulations elevate the disclosure of consumer complaint information to a statutory obligation, innovating the credit system in the consumer sector. The "Regulations" also clearly stipulate the role of social organizations, for example, strengthen the public interest supervision and public interest litigation responsibilities of consumer associations, and clearly require industry associations and chambers of commerce to strengthen industry self-discipline and play a good role. We will also encourage and support the mass media to strengthen public opinion supervision and jointly create a good atmosphere for protecting the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.

Liu Jun said that in the next step, the State Administration for Market Regulation will work with all sectors of society to comprehensively carry out assured consumption actions, comprehensively establish a consumer-first policy orientation, comprehensively build a consumption-friendly society, and actively build a co-governance pattern of assured consumption environment.

Those who use consumer complaints to defraud compensation or extortion must bear administrative responsibility and even criminal responsibility

Regarding the difficulty and high cost of consumer rights protection, Guo Xu, director of the Law Enforcement and Inspection Bureau of the State Administration for Market Regulation, introduced that how to deal with consumer disputes is the most concerned and realistic issue for every consumer, and the "Regulations" have improved the resolution mechanism for consumer disputes.

First, focus on reconciliation at the source. The "Regulations" require operators to implement the first question to be responsible, "who sells is responsible" and "who serves is responsible", and consumers have the right to directly find sellers and service providers. The State Administration for Market Regulation also encourages advance compensation, and shopping malls, platforms, scenic spots, etc., will first pay consumers when the settled merchants refuse to perform their responsibilities. To guide online dispute resolution, 166,000 enterprises across the country have settled on the national 12315 platform, with a success rate of 53%, which is nearly 10 days faster than traditional mediation, improving the experience of rights protection.

Second, strengthen administrative mediation. For the first time, the Regulations stipulate that after the relevant administrative department accepts a complaint, if the operator and the consumer agree to mediate, they shall mediate in a timely manner according to their duties, which also reflects the orientation of "whoever is in charge shall protect the rights". It also stipulates the requirements for accepting complaints, time limits, entrusted mediation, appraisal and testing and other procedures, such as major, complex, and consumer disputes involving many people, which can be included in the government's random inspection and inspection, "one appraisal and one resolution".

Finally, regulate consumer claims. Consumer disputes are the troubles of the growth of the market economy, and the State Administration for Market Regulation has always unblocked the channels for appeals, supported social supervision, and implemented rewards for whistleblowing. However, in recent years, malicious claims have spread, undermining the business environment, abusing public resources, and hindering ordinary consumers from protecting their rights. Last year, the market supervision system received 17.403 million complaints, with an average of 1.8 complaints and more than 3,000 complaints. For the first time, the "Regulations" stipulate that complaints and reports shall abide by laws, regulations, and relevant provisions, and shall not seek improper interests, infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of business operators, or disrupt the order of the market economy; those who obtain compensation by fraud or extortion shall bear administrative responsibility and even criminal responsibility; and the system of punitive damages and administrative punishment shall be accurately applied, so as to avoid "small mistakes and big compensation" and "small excessive punishments".

It is forbidden to "kill ripeness with big data", and for the first time in administrative regulations, differentiated pricing is regulated

With the continuous development of the platform economy, some new problems have emerged in the protection of consumer rights and interests, such as false marketing, "big data killing", automatic renewal, and difficulty in refunding. According to the statistics of relevant parties, as of the end of last year, the mainland online shopping users exceeded 900 million, and the online retail sales of physical goods accounted for 27.6% of the total retail sales of consumer goods.

The Regulations make a series of new provisions on the problems existing in online consumption. In response to some business operators' behaviors that harm fair competition and fair trade, such as "batch likes", "false grass planting", "fictitious evaluations", "positive reviews and cashbacks", and "deletion of negative reviews". The "Regulations" stipulate that business operators shall not fabricate transaction information and business data, and shall not tamper, forge or conceal user evaluations, etc., so as to prevent deception and misleading consumers.

In response to the compulsory registration of some operators by scanning QR codes to pay, online booking and bundling vouchers, etc., the "Regulations" stipulate that operators shall not use technical means to compel or indirectly compel consumers to purchase goods and accept services. Where proprietors provide goods and services through methods such as collocation or combination, they shall draw the attention of consumers in a conspicuous manner.

With regard to the issue of "big data killing", which is of general concern to consumers, the "Regulations" stipulate that business operators shall not set different prices or charging standards for the same goods and services under the same transaction conditions without the knowledge of consumers. "This is also the first time that the mainland has regulated differentiated pricing in administrative regulations. Liu Jun pointed out.

It is worth mentioning that in recent years, live streaming has innovated consumption scenarios and enriched consumer supply, but due to the large number of "front and backstage" subjects, the long chain of "people and goods yards", the difficulty of "online and offline" management, and the difficulty of consumers to provide evidence, problems such as false marketing, mismatched goods, and difficulties in returning goods are more prominent.

In view of the characteristics and outstanding problems of live broadcasting, Guo Xu pointed out that live streaming must make it clear "who is bringing goods" and "whose goods are being bringed". In this regard, the "Regulations" stipulate that if a business operator provides goods and services through the Internet, television, telephone, mail order, etc., it shall indicate or explain its real name and mark in a conspicuous manner on its homepage, video screen, voice, product catalog, etc. Where other business operators actually provide goods and services, they shall also provide consumers with information such as the business operator's name, business address, and contact information.

Guo Xu emphasized that if the live broadcast content published by live broadcast room operators and live broadcast marketers constitutes commercial advertisements, they shall perform the obligations of advertising publishers, advertising agents or advertising spokespersons in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Advertising Law. The Regulations clarify the responsibilities of platforms, live broadcast rooms and anchors by elevating the relevant content in the normative document "Measures for the Administration of Online Live Streaming Marketing" to legal obligations.

When providing goods or services, we must not excessively collect consumers' personal information

Regarding the excessive collection and use of personal information by some apps, You Xueyun, head of the Cyber Rule of Law Bureau of the Cyberspace Administration of China, said that Article 23 of the Regulations stipulates the obligation of operators to protect consumers' personal information.

You Xueyun pointed out that when providing goods or services, operators must not excessively collect consumers' personal information, and must not use methods such as one-time general authorization or tacit authorization to compel or indirectly compel consumers to consent to the collection and use of personal information that is not directly related to business activities.

"For example, everyone must have experienced online shopping, the basic function of online shopping is to purchase goods, the scope of necessary personal information includes: the registered user's mobile phone number, that is, our mobile phone number, the consignee's name, address, contact number, payment time, payment amount, payment channel and other payment information. If it goes beyond that, such as facial recognition, then it is excessive collection and is not necessary personal information. You Xueyun said.

At the same time, business operators shall protect consumers' right to know and make decisions in personal information handling activities, including the right to consult and copy, the right to correct and supplement, the right to delete, the right to explain, and so forth. Business operators must not illegally sell, provide, or disclose consumers' personal information, and shall employ necessary measures to ensure the security of personal information and prevent unauthorized access and the leakage, alteration, or loss of personal information, and where leaks, alterations, or losses of personal information occur or are likely to occur, business operators shall immediately employ remedial measures and notify the departments performing personal information protection duties and consumers.

Editor-in-charge: Zhu Yumeng

Proofreading: Ran Yanqing

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