China names Amazon, ByteDance infringing on user data

According to China’s Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT), 145 apps, including Amazon and NetEase’s Dashen, illegally collected user information. In addition, Douyin Lite – the low-end phone version of ByteDance – did not clearly display program information on the app market, and Huya – a large Tencent-backed livestreaming platform – was found to be deceiving, force users to enable certain permissions.

In a statement, Amazon said it will work closely with the Department to ensure all requests are met.

From 2019 to the present, MIIT has published a total of 15 lists of problematic applications, this year alone is 6. The scorer only names more than 1,300 applications for illegally collecting user information, requiring permissions. excessive access or deceiving customers.

The above 145 applications must take corrective action before July 26 if they do not want to be punished. Even so, in the past, most of the offending apps continued to function, with only a small percentage shutting down. For example, of the first 41 applications that were named, 3 were closed.

MIIT together with the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) is responsible for the regulation of the internet and technology sector. Currently, the CAC is leading a cybersecurity investigation into the ride-hailing app Didi Chuxing, banning new users.

Authorities are looking to tighten regulations on user data protection, including punishing apps that collect too much data after recent leaks. In May, a new MIIT regulation came into effect, holding service providers accountable for “excessive” collection of data unrelated to the primary service. The regulation affects 39 service categories such as messaging, online shopping, payment, car-hailing, short videos, livestreams, and mobile games.