Standardize installation and uninstallation, strengthen authority management, and strictly review shelf

APP governance has a "Compliance Operation Guide" (Big Data Watch)

Han Xin, reporter of this newspaper

People's Daily(Version 2023, March 03, 17)

Core reading

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued a notice to introduce 26 measures from multiple perspectives, such as standardizing installation and uninstallation behavior, optimizing service experience, and strengthening personal information protection, to further formulate rules for mobile Internet application services and clarify boundaries.

Can the new regulations keep up with the new changes, and how can the responsibilities of all parties be implemented? The reporter conducted an interview.

When users browse the web, they must not force the download or open the APP by means of folding display, frequent prompts, etc.; In addition to basic function software, the APP should be easily uninstalled; Adopt automatic renewal and automatic renewal to provide services, and obtain the consent of users, and shall not be checked by default or forced to bundle and open...

Recently, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology issued the Notice on Further Improving the Capacity of Mobile Internet Application Services (hereinafter referred to as the "Notice"), focusing on 12 measures such as app installation and uninstallation, and 14 measures around app development operators, distribution platforms, etc., to further formulate rules for mobile Internet application services and clarify boundaries.

Compared with the past, what are the highlights of this notice? What are the results of standardizing and improving ICT services? The reporter interviewed relevant responsible persons and relevant experts of the Information and Communications Administration Bureau of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology.

The industry ecology is gradually improving——

The compliance rate of sampling inspection of listed apps has increased significantly year-on-year

The digital economy is booming, and various application services are becoming increasingly rich. According to data from the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the number of apps on the shelf has reached 258.<> million, and innovative forms such as mini programs and fast applications continue to appear. While the rich and diverse APP empowers thousands of industries and facilitates production and life, it also produces problems such as "random jumping" of open-screen advertisements, "difficult uninstallation" of preset application software, and irregular collection of personal information.

In 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized a special rectification action for apps infringing on users' rights and interests, rectifying problems such as excessive collection of personal information and excessive requests for user permissions; In 2021, we will carry out nationwide information and communication service awareness improvement actions, and require relevant enterprises to promote the establishment of a personal information protection collection and sharing list.

In recent years, the quality of information and communication services has been continuously improved, and the industry ecology has gradually improved.

Service quality is improved, and user perception is constantly improving. Carry out in-depth service perception improvement actions to guide information and communication enterprises to enhance the supply of high-quality services. Meituan launched a personalized advertising recommendation switch button in the APP to smooth the complaint channel; 360 sets up a customer service hotline in a prominent position in the APP to respond to user feedback in a timely manner... By the end of last year, 100 key Internet companies had established manual customer service hotlines, making user appeals more timely.

Supervision has improved efficiency, and the protection of user rights and interests has been continuously strengthened. Strengthen source management, and urge and guide distribution platforms such as app stores to better play the role of "gatekeepers". The vivo app store manages the whole link of the listed APP through warehousing detection, inspection and inspection, rectification promotion, etc., to improve the user experience.

In 2022, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology organized a total of 6 batches of technical sampling tests, testing 151.<> million apps, and the compliance rate of sampling inspections increased significantly year-on-year.

"The quality of APP service is related to the personal feelings of hundreds of millions of mobile Internet users." Wei Ran, chief engineer of the China Academy of Information and Communications Technology, said that compared with other industries, mobile Internet application forms are diverse, product updates are frequent, and the continuous and rapid development of the industry makes regulatory issues and objects dynamically change.

Clarifying rules and strengthening supervision –

Specific optimization measures are proposed for common business scenarios

APP governance has achieved remarkable results, but challenges remain. "Some enterprises still have problems of irregular service behavior and inadequate implementation of relevant responsibilities." Jia Baoguo, senior engineer of China's Tel terminal laboratory, said. Some of them are old problems that have been repeatedly banned, such as opening screen pop-up windows "cannot be closed, jump randomly", relevant information is not clearly in place, and personal information is collected without legitimate reasons, etc., which need to further consolidate the effectiveness of governance and prevent problems from rebounding; Some are new situations and problems in the development of the industry, such as silent download, service automatic renewal and cancellation.

According to the new changes, the rules of the APP regulatory governance system should also be followed up and optimized and adjusted in a timely manner. Wei Ran said that on the basis of summarizing the previous APP governance experience, the Notice puts forward 14 compliance obligations for five types of entities upstream and downstream of the industrial chain, which will effectively solve the problems of unclear rules and unclear responsibilities, better respond to solve outstanding problems, and promote compliance with laws and regulations.

In terms of optimizing the service experience, the Notice proposes unified specifications focusing on four common business scenarios: APP information pop-ups, service notification, start-up operation, and service renewal. For example, in terms of information pop-up windows, clear and effective close buttons are required, and users must not be induced to operate by means such as "full-screen heat map" and high-sensitivity "shake".

In terms of personal information protection, the Notice addresses the weak links found in the previous regulatory work, regulates the three types of problems of unnecessary collection of personal information by apps, inadequate information processing, and excessive requests for permissions, and proposes that personal information unrelated to service scenarios must not be collected solely on the grounds of algorithm recommendation and risk control, and requires users to be informed that it should be concise, clear and easy to understand, and that permission to obtain should be dynamically applied for when business functions are started.

"Personal information protection is an important part of app governance." Wei Ran introduced that since 2019, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has continued to carry out APP personal information protection testing and supervision and governance, and continuously increased the discovery, exposure and disposal of illegal handling of personal information. "The issuance of the Notice shows that the attitude in strengthening the protection of personal information remains unchanged, the determination is not reduced, and the scale is not relaxed."

In terms of optimizing the industrial ecology, the Notice covers the upstream and downstream links of the industrial chain, compacting the five main responsibilities of APP developers and operators, application distribution platforms, software development kit service providers, intelligent terminal enterprises and network access service providers, so as to facilitate the implementation of enterprises, so as to promote the improvement of the performance ability and service level of each link, and form an industrial synergy to improve the quality of information and communication services.

Multi-party co-governance forms a joint force——

Promote government supervision, enterprise self-discipline, and industry autonomy

Compared with the past, the Notice further improves the rule system for the protection of the rights and interests of users in the information and communication industry, and provides enterprises with a "compliance operation guide" through the establishment of regulations, standardized services, and compacting responsibilities, which is conducive to better safeguarding the legitimate rights and interests of users and promoting the high-quality development of the industry.

"Protecting the legitimate rights and interests of users and maintaining the healthy ecology of the industry is a long-term and systematic project, and only by gathering consensus and forming a joint force can we promote the stable and far-reaching and deepening of APP governance." Wei Ran said.

The Notice clarifies relevant work requirements, refines task implementation measures, and promotes the formation of a good situation of government supervision, enterprise self-discipline and industry autonomy. In terms of government supervision, emphasize improving working mechanisms, strengthening supervision and inspection, and taking punitive measures against enterprises that find problems and do not make thorough rectification; In terms of enterprise self-discipline, it is required to carry out self-examination and self-correction, immediately correct the problems found, and continuously improve the service level; In terms of industry autonomy, upgrade and build public service platforms, promote the application of traceability technologies such as signature certification, and formulate self-discipline conventions and technical standards.

"Information and communication services are related to hundreds of millions of users, and high-quality service supply is an important practice to practice the people-centered development thinking." The relevant person in charge of the Information and Communications Administration of the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology said that the next step will be to accelerate the construction of a mobile Internet application public service platform, efficiently support industry supervision and the development of the service industry, and at the same time, strengthen the governance of the whole process and the whole chain of APP, supervise key links such as APP, app store, and terminal, implement detailed subject responsibilities, and realize joint prevention and governance of the upstream and downstream of the industry. In addition, it will also carry out user satisfaction evaluation of key Internet services, accelerate the age-appropriate transformation of local characteristic websites and apps, and provide more comprehensive, intimate and satisfactory information and communication services for the majority of users.