Sun Lingshan Chen Bei
case review
When Jia received a sales call from an information technology company, the other party could not only clearly call out his name, but also asked him if he needed a loan.
Jia never left personal information with the company, and the other party claimed that he learned about it through a promotional link on an online platform, which required input of mobile phone number, verification code and other information.
Later, Jia reported the behavior of the information technology company, and the market supervision department ordered the company to make corrections and imposed a warning administrative penalty.
Jia sued the court because he believed that the company used the obtained mobile phone number and other personal information for profit-making purposes for telemarketing without his consent, infringing on his personal information rights and the right to a peaceful life.
The court finally ruled that an information technology company apologized to Jia and compensated for the loss of 500 yuan.
judge prompt
Harassing calls regardless of time and place are very disturbing. Facing the harassing calls, people are often helpless or ignore them while they are helpless and angry. However, this makes the marketing company "confident".
In fact, my country's Civil Code has added a new chapter on privacy and personal information protection. According to the law, the personal information of natural persons is protected by law.
Phone numbers belong to personal information, and the processing of personal information must obtain the consent of natural persons, otherwise it will be liable for tort.
The act of making harassing phone calls without the consent of others constitutes a violation of the personal information of others, and should be held accountable in accordance with the law.
The relevant provisions on personal information protection newly added to the Civil Code define the definition of personal information and clarify the legal boundaries for the collection and processing of personal information of natural persons, which is conducive to the protection of personal information of natural persons and the prevention of illegal infringement of personal information.
Merchants should follow the principles of legality, legitimacy, and necessity when processing personal information, and must not over-handle it.
In this case, an information technology company's unauthorized phone call for marketing without consent was an improper use of Jia's personal information.
Natural persons have the right to privacy, and any organization or individual shall not intrude on other people's private life and tranquility by telephone or other methods. Therefore, the company should bear the tort liability.
During the trial, an information technology company proposed that it obtained Jia’s name and contact information based on the loan application submitted by Jia in a promotional link issued by a loan agency company that cooperates with him, so he believed that the company was legally collecting Jia’s personal Sales calls made to them after the information.
The court held that the evidence submitted by the company was not sufficient to prove its claim. Even if Jia’s personal information was legally obtained from a cooperative loan agency company, the loan agency company had no right to do so without Jia’s consent and authorization. for other companies to use.
In the age of network information, the risk of personal information being leaked is increasing. Natural persons should pay attention to the protection of personal information when conducting business activities, read relevant agreements carefully, and reduce the risk of personal information such as phone numbers being leaked from the source.
When receiving harassing calls from certain marketing companies, they can report to the administrative department for administrative penalties, or file a lawsuit in the court, requiring the other party to bear civil tort liability and protect their legitimate rights and interests through legal means.
(Beijing Daily Author Unit: Beijing Dongcheng District People's Court)