The Beijing Internet Court pronounced a verdict in the first instance: Douyin and WeChat Dushu both infringed users' personal information
On July 30, the Beijing Internet Court made a verdict of the first instance and found that Douyin and WeChat Dushu both infringed users' personal information. The two cases have also become typical cases after the promulgation of the "Civil Code of the People's Republic of China", which reflects the protection of citizens' personal information rights and interests in the Internet era.
In the case of Ling Moumou v. Douyin, the plaintiff Ling Moumou used the mobile phone number to register and log in to the Douyin App when there was no other contact person in the mobile phone address book, and was recommended a large number of "may know people". These include classmates and friends who have not been in contact for many years. Ling Moumou believed that Douyin App illegally obtained its personal information and privacy constituted infringement, and sued Beijing Weibo Vision Technology Co., Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Weibo Vision Company), the operator of Douyin App, to the Beijing Internet Court. On July 30, the Beijing Internet Court made a verdict of the first instance in the case, and determined that Douyin App processed Ling's personal information without Ling's consent, which constituted infringement.
The Beijing Internet Court held that Ling's name, mobile phone number, social relationship, and geographic location belonged to personal information. The defendant collected and stored Ling's personal information without his consent, which constituted infringement. The above-mentioned information of Ling XX is not private. At the same time, Weibo Vision recommends a limited number of "may know people", which does not constitute an intrusion to Ling XX's peace of life, and there is no violation of Ling XX's privacy rights.
In another case in which Huang was sued, the plaintiff Huang claimed that while using "WeChat Book 3.3.0" (hereinafter referred to as "WeChat Book"), he discovered that the software automatically followed WeChat without his knowledge. Friends and default open reading records, the plaintiff believed that his personal information rights and privacy rights had been infringed, and he sued the court. On July 30, the Beijing Internet Court held a verdict of the first instance that in WeChat reading, reading information between WeChat friends was opened by default, which constituted an infringement of the plaintiff’s personal information rights. The Beijing Internet Court held that the combination of information in WeChat reading is more closely related to personality interests. The migration of WeChat reading to WeChat friends, and the default disclosure of reading information to WeChat friends who are not following, pose a high risk of infringing on user privacy. Information should be handled. Ways to notify users significantly and obtain consent. In this case, WeChat Dushu did not obtain the plaintiff’s valid consent, which constituted an infringement on the plaintiff’s personal information rights. At the same time, the court held that users may not expect to be known by others for their reading information, and may also have expectations of active use of knowledge sharing and cultural exchanges. Different users have different expectations for the privacy of reading information; the plaintiff reads two things. The book involved in this case does not have the "privacy" of "unwilling to be known to others". Therefore, the court did not support the plaintiff's claim that Tencent had infringed his privacy.
In both cases, the parties did not express in court whether to appeal. (Xi Danni, CCTV reporter)