In a move targeted at several popular mobile applications, China’s internet regulatory watchdog, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC), has named several companies for being involved in the unauthorized collection and use of personal data of users of these applications. Some of the popular applications mentioned were TikTok, LinkedIn, Kuaishou, Microsoft’s Bing, and Kugou.
In a statement posted on its official WeChat account, the regulator said that it received complaints from users that prompted it to launch an investigation into the data collection activities of several apps. The CAC noted that 105 apps were, after the investigation, found to have violated extant privacy laws by collecting excessive personal information through illegal access. According to the CAC statement, the owners of the 105 apps are required to remedy the observed breaches within 15 days.
The Chinese internet watchdog says it will continue to scrutinize mobile applications for possible breaches regularly. The CAC approach comes on the heels of the recent new regulations that provide stricter monitoring and controls for the public’s overall safety. The crux of the new rules is that app providers are held accountable for collecting excessive user data unrelated to the app’s core services and forcing users to give uninformed consent to how their data are used. These regulations cover a wide range of mobile applications of different hues.
China continues to strengthen its laws and regulations to be responsive to the evolving technological space. Some major brands like Alibaba and Tencent have been fined heavily for observed breaches of the rules governing their operations and anti-monopoly laws. These new moves by the CAC will help shore up consumer confidence in the system and ensure mobile applications do not take undue advantage of users.
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