financial apps continues, and this licensed payment institution has been named. Hunan Provincial Communications Administration recently publicly notified 11 apps that have not completed rectification as scheduled. The products and packaged apps of the payment institution China Mobile E-Commerce Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as " China Mobile E-Commerce ") appear among them.
In response to this report, on August 25, China Mobile E-Commerce responded to a Beijing Business Daily reporter saying that it was mainly due to incomplete rectification of prompts for individual application information collection. The company would speed up optimization as required and complete it before August 29. Rectify, upgrade, and establish a long-term mechanism to ensure continuous improvement of user services.
responded that it would speed up rectification and optimization
According to information released by the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration, the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration monitored and found in July 2022 that 21 apps had infringements on user rights and security risks, and issued "Hunan Provincial Communications Administration" to relevant violating units. Provincial Communications Administration Bureau's Notice on the Disposal of Illegal Apps, ordering App operators to make rectifications within a time limit. As of the required rectification deadline, 11 apps, including Hebao App, were publicly notified again because they had not completed rectification on time.
However, a Beijing Business Daily reporter searched the official website of the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration and found that the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration has not publicly disclosed the list of the above 21 apps and specific violations.
Among the apps notified this time, the operating entity of Hebao App is China Mobile E-Commerce, a third-party payment institution. According to information on the official website of the central bank, China Mobile E-commerce obtained the " payment business license " in December 2011. The business types are mobile phone payment, bank card acquiring , Internet payment, and prepaid card issuance and acceptance (only online Recharge your real-name payment account). In December 2021, China Mobile E-Commerce successfully renewed its payment license, which will be valid until December 21, 2026.
As a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Mobile, China Mobile e-commerce is also an important financial business segment of China Mobile. Hebao App is positioned on the official digital life service platform of China Mobile, providing users with many financial-related services such as payment, consumer finance, credit loans, and wealth management.
Regarding the specific violations and subsequent rectification plans involved in the Hebao App being notified this time, on August 25, a reporter from Beijing Business Daily also learned more about China Mobile E-Commerce. China Mobile E-Commerce responded that the main reason is that the prompt rectification of individual application information collection is incomplete, and the company will speed up optimization as required and complete the rectification and upgrade before August 29.
Wang Peng, a researcher at the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences and the Intelligent Social Governance Research Center of Renmin University of China, pointed out that the personal information collected by apps in the financial field needs to involve important information such as ID cards and bank cards. As a licensed financial institution, China Mobile E-Commerce should pay more attention to this aspect, promptly rectify problems that arise, and effectively protect the rights and interests of financial consumers.
does not make profits based on infringement of user rights.
Before this notification, the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration also reported a list of other apps that infringed on user rights. For example, in April 2022, 15 apps were “named”. In addition to Hunan, regulators in Shanghai, Chongqing, Sichuan, Zhejiang and other places have issued rectification requirements for illegal apps. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology also ordered rectification of problematic apps discovered during testing.
At the same time, since the central bank clearly proposed to strengthen the management of mobile financial apps at the end of 2019, the registration work of financial apps has continued to advance.
On August 19, China Internet Finance Association announced the 27th batch of real-name registration lists for mobile financial client applications, a total of 27 institutions, including banks, small loans, payments and other types of entities. Among the list of companies that have completed the registration process, Hebao App, which belongs to the “payment” category, has completed the registration process before.
Based on information from various sources, as the special rectification work on apps infringing on user rights continues to advance, the problems that existed in various apps in the past such as excessive collection of user information, automatic deductions, and random links to jump to advertisements have been effectively alleviated. However, there are still problems such as some institutional apps involving violations and failure to make timely rectifications.
In Wang Peng's view, on the issue of information collection, with the promulgation of laws and regulations such as the Network Security Law and Personal Information Protection Law , work on the reasonable collection and use of user information and rectification of violations continues to advance. Users The emphasis on private information is also gradually increasing. Such work will continue to be carried out in the future, so that the black and gray industries related to personal information will not be able to hide.
Wang Peng emphasized that when app operators collect user information, they must strictly abide by regulatory requirements, fully inform users of the necessity of collecting information, and not collect excessive information, let alone use overlord clauses, refuse to serve users who do not provide information, etc. The collected information must also be properly handled to ensure that the data is "available but not visible."
"Apps that have violated regulations and are not rectified in a timely manner will be removed from the shelves in a timely manner. The most critical factor for long-term operation is that the operator operates within compliance lines and does not make profits based on infringement of user rights." Wang Peng added.
In fact, in this notification, the Hunan Provincial Communications Administration also emphasized that the notified App operators should complete rectifications and feedback rectification reports before August 29. If they fail to make rectifications and provide feedback after the deadline, they will be punished in accordance with the law and regulations. Further measures such as removal from shelves, administrative penalties, and inclusion in the list of bad telecommunications operators will be taken.
China Mobile E-Commerce also mentioned in the interview that it will establish a long-term mechanism for user information protection in the future to ensure continued improvement of user services.
Beijing Business Daily reporter Liao Meng
