A few years ago, the wave of Internet finance swept across the country, and P2P online lending platforms sprung up like mushrooms after a rain, and the number once reached more than 5,000. While providing convenient financial services for investors and debtors, these platforms have also accumulated a massive amount of customer information, with hundreds of millions of pieces. However, the storage and use of this information is worrying, especially the information that is not related to the debt, such as the debtor's address book and call records, is used as a collection "tool" by some P2P platforms, which seriously violates the debtor's right to privacy.
However, the question we have to ask now is whether the P2P online lending platforms that infringe on debtors and the third-party collectors they outsource should bear the relevant legal liability.
First of all, we need to be clear that P2P online lending platforms are obligated to protect the privacy and security of customer information regardless of whether the debtor pays off the loan or not. If the platform illegally obtains, abuses or leaks customer information in the course of operation, the platform shall bear legal responsibility for its past infringements, even if the debtor has fulfilled its repayment obligations. This includes, but is not limited to, civil compensation, administrative penalties, and even criminal liability.
Xiao Xu of Henan Province borrowed 23 times from an online loan platform called "XX Bus" in Shanghai, which was an ordinary financial transaction. However, when he was facing temporary financial pressure due to the delay in the payment of wages by his employer, he received a series of reminder calls from unfamiliar numbers. These phone calls deeply troubled Xiao Xu, and also made him deeply suspicious of the collection behavior of "XX Bus".
In the face of Xiao Xu's questioning, the official customer service of "XX Bus" responded that the third-party collection agency they outsourced was legal and compliant. However, when Xiao Xu asked for basic information about these collection agencies, the customer service avoided talking about it and even refused to provide any evidence to prove their legitimacy. This veiled attitude made Xiao Xu even more suspicious that the so-called "legal compliance" was just a verbal promise from customer service, and that there might actually be suspicion of defrauding consumers.
In this society governed by the rule of law, the behavior of any institution or individual should be constrained and regulated by law. If the third-party collection agency outsourced by "XX Bus" is really legal and compliant, then they should be able to easily provide relevant supporting documents and information. However, the evasion and rejection of customer service makes people doubt the legitimacy of these collection agencies.
What worries Xiao Xu even more is that if these collection agencies are not legal, then their phone calls may be suspected of violating the law. After all, even "XX Bus" itself cannot prove the legitimacy of these collection agencies, so whether these so-called "collection" personnel have legal collection qualifications has become a big problem.
In addition, Xiao Xu is also worried that "XX Bus" may have leaked his personal information to these unidentified collectors. It is not only a matter of violating the privacy of individuals, but also may involve acts that instigate or support others to commit crimes. After all, these collectors use Xiao Xu's personal information to collect, and they are likely to take some improper or even illegal means.
As the subject of information collection and processing, they have the responsibility and obligation to ensure the security and confidentiality of user information. However, they leaked Xiao Xu's personal information to an unidentified collector, which is undoubtedly irresponsible for the security of user information.
In particular, after I paid off the loan of the "XX Bus" online loan platform, I thought that I could get rid of the trouble of collection and return to a peaceful life. However, the reality was very different from what he expected. Instead of stopping their actions, the unidentified collectors intensified their efforts and continued to call me to collect money. This makes me wonder why these people continue to use illegal means to force themselves to repay the loan after they have paid off the loan.
In this case, we can't help but ask: as a professional online loan platform, does "XX Bus" have the responsibility and obligation to ensure that users are no longer troubled by any form of collection after paying off the loan?
The answer is clearly yes. However, "XX Bus" failed to fulfill these basic duties and obligations. Not only did they fail to effectively protect users' personal information and rights and interests, but they also allowed collectors to continue to collect illegal money from users. This behavior not only violates relevant laws and regulations, but also violates basic professional ethics and conduct.
In the past few years since I paid off the loan, I have repeatedly pondered a question: when I was troubled by overdue, did "XX Bus" seriously consider how to properly handle these personal privacy information after I finally paid off the loan before leaking my debt information, mobile phone address book and even the information of related people in my call history to those unidentified collectors?
A professional and responsible financial institution should put the protection of customer information and respect for privacy in the first place. This is not only a basic commitment to customers, but also a clear requirement of laws and regulations. However, the practice of "so-and-so bus" has left me deeply disappointed and worried.
During the time I was overdue, I was under tremendous psychological pressure and financial burden. The collection method of "XX Bus" is even worse, they not only frequently call and harass me, but also leak my personal information to unknown people. This behavior not only violated my right to privacy, but also made me seriously question the professionalism and professional ethics of "XX Bus".
What is even more difficult for me to accept is that after I paid off the loan, the leaked information was not properly handled. I still receive all kinds of harassing phone calls from time to time, which not only disturb my normal life, but also cause me great inconvenience.
I can't help but wonder if "Bus So-and-So" had considered the sensitivity and importance of my personal information before it leaked it to the collectors, and had they ever envisioned how it would be safely deleted or destroyed after I paid off the loan?
A responsible financial institution should have a sound customer information management system and privacy protection mechanism. After the customer repays the loan, they should promptly delete or destroy the customer's personal information to ensure that it will not be misused or leaked. However, "so-and-so bus" clearly did not do this.
First of all, from the perspective of privacy protection, "XX Bus" leaked the customer's personal information to an unknown collector, which has been suspected of violating the customer's privacy rights. According to the Personal Information Protection Law, no organization or individual shall illegally collect, use, process or transmit the personal information of others, and shall not illegally buy, sell, provide or disclose the personal information of others. Therefore, "XX Bus" needs to bear legal responsibility for its behavior of leaking customer information, including the administrative penalties it may face and pay corresponding compensation to the victims.
Secondly, from the perspective of contract law, a loan contract has been signed between the borrower and "XX Bus", and both parties should follow the contract. After the borrower repays the loan, the contractual relationship has been terminated, and "XX Bus" should stop all activities related to collection. However, they have failed to do so and continue to harass borrowers through unknown persons, which is a clear violation of contract law. The borrower has every right to demand that "XX Bus" stop this behavior and bear the liability for compensation for losses caused by the breach.
Furthermore, from the perspective of the Consumer Rights Protection Act, borrowers, as consumers, have the right to have their personal information protected during the loan process. The behavior of "XX Bus" not only violates the privacy of consumers, but also harms the legitimate rights and interests of consumers. Therefore, according to the Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests, consumers have the right to request "XX Bus" to stop the infringement and compensate for losses, and can complain and report to the relevant departments to request investigation and punishment.
However, the problem we are now encountering is that it is simply impossible to hold "so-and-so bus" legally responsible. Under the long-term malicious harassment of the collection agency outsourced by "XX Bus", many of us have not only lost our jobs, but even the chances of finding a new job have become slim. The basic security of life has been seriously threatened, and we are in an unprecedented predicament. What is even more distressing is that in the society we live in under the rule of law, there are many people who have experienced the same experience as me. We are facing a huge dilemma, and we simply do not have enough capacity and capital to confront these illegal capital forces.
When we try to gather evidence and call the police, we face the difficulty of filing a case and the risk of possible retaliation. We don't know if the police will open an investigation, but we are more worried about whether we will suffer even more frenzied retaliation once we take action. This concern has made it difficult for us to defend our rights, and some people have even chosen to give up because of this.
I also thought about solving my own problems by suing, but the reality made me feel helpless. As grassroots people, we have limited knowledge of the law, and we don't know how to confront these capitalist forces who know the law and break the law. Our lack of legal expertise and sufficient resources to support our litigation actions makes it even more difficult for us to defend our rights.
Xu Liang, a media person, said that the "indescribable" of the debtor is a profound portrayal of the chaotic situation in the Internet financial market. In this seemingly prosperous but chaotic market, countless debtors are under tremendous pressure and pain, their voices are often ignored, and their plight is often masked.
The rise of the Internet financial market is supposed to provide people with more convenient and efficient financial services. However, in the process of development, some lawbreakers and unscrupulous institutions have taken advantage of market loopholes and lack of supervision to carry out various illegal operations, resulting in chaos in the market. These chaos not only harms the interests of debtors, but also undermines the healthy development of the market.
The debtor's "indescribable" is first reflected in the high interest and unreasonable charges they face. When providing loan services, some Internet financial platforms often use high interest rates and hidden fees as a means to exploit the interests of debtors. These high interest rates and fees make debtors feel stressed in the repayment process, and even fall into a debt quagmire from which they cannot extricate themselves.
Secondly, the "unspeakable" of debtors is also reflected in the malicious collection and invasion of privacy they are subjected to. In order to recover debts, some collection agencies use all kinds of bad methods to harass, intimidate and even threaten debtors with violence. At the same time, some platforms also have serious leakage and abuse problems when collecting and using personal information, which brings huge hidden dangers to the privacy and security of debtors.
What is even more serious is that these chaos have also spawned a large number of illegal fund-raising and fraud. Some criminals use the name of Internet financial platforms to carry out illegal fundraising and fraud activities, bringing huge losses to investors and debtors. These behaviors not only disrupt the market order, but also seriously damage the image and credibility of the Internet finance industry.