What are the "holes" in the app user agreement you haven't read?-瞭新社

What are the "holes" in the app user agreement you haven't read?

2022-03-17

In the era of mobile Internet, app has become a necessary tool for people. When downloading and using for the first time, it is normal to click "I have read and agreed to the user agreement and privacy policy". These protocols are often tens of thousands or even tens of thousands of words, and the length is comparable to a paper. Relevant surveys show that nearly 80% of users rarely or never read them. What are the "pits" hidden in the complex agreement text? With the advent of the "March 15" international consumer rights day, the reporter launched an investigation. How many people can read the app user agreement? Recently, the reporter downloaded five social networking, game, short video, shopping and other apps with more than 100 million downloads in the mobile application market. It was found that each app will specify the content of user agreement and privacy policy according to its own characteristics. However, some basic contents are the same. In terms of user agreement, app will generally introduce the basic information and use specifications of the product, such as how to register and cancel the account and how to deal with the loss of password; Emphasize user behavior norms, such as requiring users not to fabricate or spread rumors and false information; Emphasize the rights of the company, such as the intellectual property rights of relevant contents owned by the company; In addition, there will be disclaimers, contact information, etc. In recent years, the "general user protection agreement" has been listed separately, and some "personal information protection agreements" have been listed separately. At the same time, the privacy policy also makes detailed provisions on the collection, management, storage and protection of personal information. The total number of words in these five app user agreements and privacy policies exceeds 130000 words. On average, each app requires users to "read and agree" about 27000 words, which is longer than an undergraduate thesis and close to the length of a master's thesis. The protocols of some niche apps are relatively simple, and the length of user protocols is thousands of words. With such a huge amount of reading, how many users will go to see it? The joint research group of Yuan Kang, vice president of the Institute of network governance of Wuhan University, conducted a survey and interview with 1036 people last year. The results showed that 77.8% of users "rarely or never" read the privacy agreement when installing the app, and 69.69% of users would ignore the update prompt of the app privacy agreement. "User agreements and privacy policies are filled with a lot of miscellaneous information. Professionals call it a headache, not to mention ordinary consumers." Yuan Kang believes that "few people read" reflects that the relevant agreements are still "in vain", which can not achieve the original intention of protecting users' right to know. What are the "pits" hidden in the user agreement? In recent years, APP user agreements and privacy policies have been gradually improved in governance. However, some apps are still "digging holes", and consumers are easy to fall into traps if they are not careful. The first "pit": if you disagree, you can't use it. The personal information protection law stipulates that personal information processors shall not refuse to provide products or services on the grounds that individuals do not agree to process their personal information or withdraw their consent; The processing of personal information is necessary for the provision of products or services. "When some apps display goods and videos, there is no need to ask for personal information excessively. Those behaviors that can't be used if they disagree are inappropriate." Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of China Information Security Research Institute, also reminded that "whether it is necessary or not should be unilaterally stipulated by app, and it is necessary to prevent a sideball." The second "pit": hide behind the scenes. In March this year, the "where's OTMS" app did not prompt the user to read the collection and use rules such as privacy policy through pop-up window and other obvious ways, or solicit the user's consent in non explicit ways such as default choice and consent to privacy policy. It was suspected of privacy non-compliance and was notified by the national computer virus emergency treatment center. The third "pit": cut first and then play. Since this year, many apps such as "Yunlian health" and "tracing travel" have started to collect personal information before obtaining the consent of users, and have been notified one by one. "Although the relevant departments continue to strengthen the supervision of similar acts, the illegal collection of personal information by app still has a certain concealment." Yuan Kang said. The fourth "pit": one consent, one consent. Some apps will revise the privacy agreement as needed, but users cannot know whether the content has been updated in time. For example, a beauty app said in its user agreement that the company has the right to formulate and modify this Agreement and / or various rules from time to time as needed, and publicize them on the app platform without separately notifying users. When consumers use the platform service, they accept the revised agreement and rules. The fifth "pit": the transfer of personal information to a third party. The user agreement of a shopping app said that for consumers' videos, photos, words, etc., "(the platform) has a permanent, unlimited and geographical right to use them completely free of charge", and "has the right to license them to any third party for use" and "there is no need to obtain your consent in actual exercise". Yuan Kang believes that app obtained the authorization to share user data with a third party in the initial agreement, which is equivalent to allowing users to give up the right to review the flow and transfer of personal information in the future. Can user agreements be listed? Zuo Xiaodong and other experts believe that some app user agreements and privacy policies are suspected of fishing in troubled waters through obscure words, and call for a concise and clear list of what consumers need to know through the list system to reduce the reading threshold. In the future, APP user agreements and privacy policies should be further standardized. Chen Xuhui and Yuan Kang, directors of the Internet information and user behavior research center of the Business School of Tianjin University of Finance and economics, called on users to understand the core content of the privacy agreement. It is necessary to highlight the important parts associated with users in front of the agreement from the needs of users' convenient reading, similar to the annual reports and academic abstracts of listed companies, so as to facilitate users to understand the core content of the privacy agreement. "Relevant agreements should further clarify the scope of core elements such as' necessary information ',' third party ', which can not be vaguely summarized as' possible disclosure to third parties'. Sensitive personal information should also be treated anonymously when sharing user information." Yuan Kang said. Responsibility for compacting the mobile application market. Chen Xuhui believes that the regulatory authorities can seize the "key minority" of the mobile application market, clarify the corresponding legal responsibilities of its illegal apps on the shelves, and promote them to do a good job in controlling them from the source of the apps on the shelves. In addition, we should enhance consumers' awareness of personal information protection and strengthen law enforcement. Zuo Xiaodong believes that teenagers, college students and other groups are familiar with app and have a strong awareness of personal information protection, which can become the main force to promote the improvement of user agreement and privacy policy. Professional forces such as lawyers should actively join in, form a virtuous cycle of reporting violations and investigating violations, and gradually promote the implementation of the contents of the agreement. (Xinhua News Agency)

Edit：Li Ling Responsible editor：Chen Jie

Source：Economic Information Daily

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