Suspected of infringing on customer privacy Nanjing took the lead in requesting the sales office to remove the "face recognition system"
The installation of face recognition systems in sales offices, which is hotly discussed in the real estate circle, has made new progress in Nanjing.
It is reported that many sales offices in Nanjing have received phone calls from relevant departments requesting the removal of the existing face recognition system, which is the first case in the country.
The Beijing News reporter verified that the news is true. Some sales offices in Nanjing have received notifications from government departments requesting the removal of the facial recognition system.
According to industry insiders, the collection of information through the face recognition system is suspected of infringing on customer privacy. Relevant departments in Nanjing require the sales office to remove the face recognition system, which will help protect the rights and interests of buyers.
Regarding how to "determine customers", industry insiders suggest that after the face recognition system is removed, the developer can place a public announcement or statement for the customer in a relatively reasonable location at the sales office, stating the situation of identifying customers by collecting big data .
At the same time, government regulatory agencies should strengthen the supervision of developers and crack down on violations of customer privacy.
Facial recognition system will be removed in some sales offices in Nanjing
Recently, a small video of "Jinan men wearing helmets to visit houses" went viral on the Internet.
In the video, the man wears a helmet and enters the sales office to see the house to prevent capture by the face recognition system.
As a result, the installation of face recognition systems in sales offices has aroused social concern.
A reporter from the Beijing News found that a number of sales offices in Nanjing have received notices from relevant departments that the use of the "face recognition system" on commercial housing sales sites is forbidden, and the existing face recognition system is required to be dismantled, which is still national The first case.
Country Garden said that only a few projects in Nanjing have adopted related intelligent identification systems.
No formal notice has been received yet, but after hearing about this, preparations for the demolition have been started.
Nanjing Vanke said that it has received a notice from the local government requesting to remove the face recognition system and is implementing it as required.
Yincheng International stated that it has indeed received notifications from relevant departments requesting the removal of the face recognition system. “We currently have some installations in sales offices and are processing them as required.”
"It was requested to be demolished this morning, and if it is not demolished, it will be sealed." A local project salesperson in Nanjing said.
A related person from another local real estate company stated that the relevant departments of Nanjing stipulated that the use of the face recognition system is prohibited without the permission of the parties. Therefore, the sales office is implementing it in accordance with government regulations.
There are also some local project sales staff who said that no formal relevant documents have been issued at present. "Now when the sales office registers, they will tell the customer that a face recognition system is installed here to let the customer know and know about this."
The installation of "face recognition" is related to channel taking
It is reported that in the past, real estate marketing was mainly self-sale and agency companies, plus online promotion, supplemented by channels.
However, today, the effectiveness of online promotion has declined, and the effectiveness of direct offline customer acquisition has been highlighted. Developers’ self-sales are limited by resource limitations, and they have slowly transitioned to using external channels to sell houses.
As the proportion of customers transacted through external channels is increasing, developers’ being "kidnapped" by intermediary channels has aroused greater concern in the industry.
Under normal circumstances, projects that adopt the channel “distribution model” will install “face recognition” to distinguish natural visitors from channel customers.
A reporter from the Beijing News learned that if a house buyer came to buy a house after seeing the propaganda of a real estate company, it is called a "natural visiting customer"; if the buyer is brought to the door by a channel agent, it is a "channel customer" and the real estate company must give the agent a certain amount Commissions.
Face recognition is to help real estate companies determine what type of buyer a house buyer is, whose customer it is, and to whom the commission should be paid.
However, not all developers and all projects will adopt channels.
Some real estate companies in Nanjing made it clear that “face recognition” has not been installed in sales offices.
It is worth mentioning that developers have different strategies for choosing channels at different stages.
During the pro-sale period, the customers accumulated in the previous period have been consumed almost. In order to achieve a better performance, the developer may use channels to sell houses in a targeted manner.
In addition, developers will also provide higher channel points to achieve rapid project dissemination when funds are relatively short.
Zhang Bin, a real estate industry insider in Wuxi, pointed out a major current situation of real estate sales: Most urban housing sales are mainly for improvement, and there are more buyers of "selling houses and buying houses". Therefore, second-hand housing intermediaries have become the first platform to obtain customer information. .
Developers value the customer resources of external channels. Some second-hand housing intermediaries continue to expand their territory in order to earn high commissions and form a trend of "taking customers to make developers".
Especially in the fourth quarter of this year, under the guidance of policies, real estate companies have stepped up their efforts to reduce leverage.
At the same time, real estate companies are generally under pressure to flush performance.
In this context, just as Zhang Bin said: "At present, at the end of the year, major companies are sprinting in sales, and the customer channel is especially valuable."
"The original intention of installing face recognition systems in some sales offices in Nanjing is inseparable from channel'kidnapping'. This move is a method adopted by developers to eliminate incomplete channel information and unclear customer identification. The ultimate goal is to reduce channel expenses. , Save costs.” said Ding Yao, an analyst at Tongce Research Institute.
In fact, a big worry for developers about channels is the waste of marketing costs caused by "washing customers but not attracting customers". In this context, the installation of "face recognition" in sales offices can solve some of the problems to a certain extent.
"Face recognition" allegedly violated privacy
Does "face recognition" violate customer privacy?
A reporter from the Beijing News learned that the "Tort Liability Law of the People's Republic of China" and the "Network Security Law of the People's Republic of China" and other laws and regulations clearly stipulate that personal information that has nothing to do with the services provided should not be collected.
Personal information shall not be collected and used in violation of the provisions of laws, administrative regulations and the agreement between the parties.
The so-called personal information refers to various information that can be used to record the personal identity of a natural person alone or in combination with other information, including but not limited to the name, date of birth, ID number, personal biometric information, and address of the natural person. , Phone number, etc.
On October 21 this year, the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress has initiated legislative procedures for the "Personal Information Protection Law of the People's Republic of China" (draft), and is publicly seeking public opinions.
The draft legislates the act of "brushing face". Face data cannot be collected casually. Facial information as an important "biometric information" has been included in the scope of protection.
In addition, the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China", which will be officially implemented on January 1, 2021, clearly stipulates that without the consent of the right holder, the portrait of the right holder may not be produced, used, or published.
In this context, relevant departments in Nanjing require that the use of "face recognition systems" on commercial housing sales sites is prohibited.
Yan Yuejin, research director of the Think Tank Center of E-House Research Institute, said, “The installation of a face recognition system in sales offices involves customer privacy, and it will also become an abnormal method for real estate companies to identify customers. Relevant departments in Nanjing made adjustments to this. It is indeed necessary to proceed from the perspective of protecting the privacy of home buyers and preventing the discriminatory sales of real estate companies' sales offices. This will help protect the rights of home buyers."
Ding Yao pointed out that face recognition itself is the mandatory collection of customers' personal information. Currently, there is no unified and orderly management, which will inevitably cause customers to worry about personal privacy leakage. This is also an important reason for the removal of the face recognition system.
"Collecting information through the face recognition system is suspected of infringing on customer privacy. In addition, for the hardest hit areas of personal privacy leaks such as selling houses, facial data needs to be protected." said Xiang Guoliang, founder of the Real Estate and Internet Research Institute.
How to "convict the guest" is worth exploring
After the face recognition system is dismantled, it is worth discussing how to "determine customers".
This is also an important link to solve the problem between developers and channels.
Guo Yi, the chief analyst of Heshuo Real Estate Agency, said, “Developers can place public announcements and statements for customers in a relatively reasonable location, such as stating that the project will identify customers by collecting big data. If the customer allows it, it can When entering the field to select a house, if the customer has any questions about this method, they can also choose not to choose the project. This method can not only safeguard the protection of buyers and consumers of their rights and interests, but also meet the needs of developers to use technical means to screen Customer information, management of case channels and sales purpose."
"Relevant departments have made corresponding clear regulations on the sales price of new houses, sales expenses, and commission points, so as to curb the inflated housing prices, the loss of the buyers, the complaints of developers, and the profitability of intermediary channels. At the same time, the relevant departments should strengthen the development The level of supervision by commercial firms has cracked down on violations of customer privacy." Zhang Bin said.
Beijing News reporter Zhang Xiaolan