Violators must be severely punished to rectify the proliferation of marketing text messages
Shi Hongju
As the mid-year "618" commercial marketing activities approached, the problem of some e-commerce platforms sending marketing text messages in violation of regulations began to show an upward trend. Some e-commerce platform companies did not fully verify the wishes of registered users, "default" users agreed and sent "618" without authorization. Commercial marketing SMS.
The Information and Communication Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology will hold an administrative guidance meeting on June 11, 2021 to warn e-commerce platform companies to standardize marketing SMS sending behavior and strengthen industry self-discipline.
At the meeting, relevant companies solemnly promised to strictly implement the relevant requirements for spam control, conduct comprehensive self-inspection and self-correction, and improve the management system and optimize user services to ensure effective results in the short term.
In real life, most mobile phone users or e-mail users have never received sales calls, text messages, or e-mails.
Especially those who have the habit of online shopping, before various large-scale promotional activities, they will receive promotional text messages from many businesses.
Many people do not need the so-called marketing text messages, and they only purchase a product in a certain online store, and never ask the online store to send them promotional text messages, or just browse a certain online store and apply for related memberships, and then they are inexplicable During the promotion period, I even often receive promotional text messages.
The main reason for this is that some e-commerce platform companies do not fully verify the wishes of registered users, but "default" users agree and send commercial marketing text messages without authorization.
Specifically, when merchants induce consumers to register as members, or when consumers fill in personal information such as mobile phone numbers while shopping, they do not clearly inform the purpose of collecting information and whether or not they will send promotional information.
For example, when filling in the phone number for online shopping, the merchant may notify the content in a format clause in an inconspicuous position, and even if consumers just browse or follow a certain product or shop, they will continue to receive promotional text messages.
This is obviously an opportunistic deliberate circumvention of the law, because filling in the delivery address and paying attention to a store does not mean that you agree to receive relevant promotional information.
In this regard, according to the "Civil Code", unless otherwise provided by law or with the express consent of the right holder, no one may intrude on the privacy of others by telephone, text messages, instant messaging tools, e-mails, leaflets, etc.
According to the "Advertising Law", without the consent or request of the parties, no one may send advertisements to their residences, vehicles, etc., or send advertisements to them by electronic information.
Where advertisements are sent by electronic information, the sender’s true identity and contact information shall be clearly indicated, and the recipient shall be provided with a method of refusing to continue receiving.
The regulatory authority may impose a fine of 5,000 yuan up to 30,000 yuan on advertisers who violate the regulations.
In order to effectively curb the proliferation of marketing text messages, in addition to strictly protecting personal information from leakage, merchants should also be strictly regulated. For example, merchants should be forced to perform clear and prominent reminders and notification obligations when obtaining consumer information, and provide convenient and easy-to-operate cancellations. Or blocking methods, do not deceive consumers' "consent" by inducement or concealment.
When consumers fill in the receiving information, the e-commerce platform should prompt the phone number in a font that is obviously different from the normal font, or ask for consent by checking it, and it is not allowed to “authorize” after obtaining consent in the form of a “package” "Each settled business sends information.
Those who do not obtain the consumer’s consent, or defraud the consumer’s consent, or send marketing information after the consumer has cancelled the “consent” shall be classified as harassment information and be punished.
The official or third-party platform can also provide phone labeling services. When a certain number of calls is marked as a promotional call or harassing call for a certain period of time, it will be blacklisted, and the number and even the related numbers under the head of the household will be restricted. business.
And it might as well give consumers the right to claim, and let the offender bear the cost of malicious harassment.
Only in this way can we effectively end the bombardment of marketing SMS, allowing people to enjoy the convenience of the Internet while enjoying the right to peace of life.
Comics/Chen Bin