Forced to follow public accounts, forced to authorize personal information, and frequently pushed daily advertisements, consumers think -
Scanning QR codes for consumption should not become a “single-choice question” (Legal Focus)
Ordering food, checking out, paying bills... With the development of information technology and the popularity of smartphones, scanning QR codes to pay has been integrated into people's daily lives. However, in recent years, this method, which is supposed to improve consumption efficiency, has caused troubles to consumers due to situations such as "forced attention to public accounts", "forced authorization of personal information", and "frequent push of advertisements on a daily basis". Some consumers believe that scanning QR codes for consumption should not become a “single-choice question.”
Not long ago, Mr. Yu, a citizen of Hefei, Anhui, went to a local barbecue restaurant for dinner with his friends. "As soon as we sat down, the waiter indicated that we could scan the QR code on the table to order. Since I was not used to this method, I asked for a paper menu." Mr. Yu said that the waiter said that there was no paper menu in the store. For the menu, you can only order by scanning the QR code.
Mr. Yu told reporters that after scanning the code, the system reminded that "the webpage needs to obtain personal information to use the full service." After the operation, a QR code popped up on the page, prompting "Scan to add friends" and "A menu will pop up after adding friends." Click the link to order." After a series of operations, Mr. Yu found the menu in the store's corporate WeChat. “What could have been solved with a paper menu ended up taking several minutes,” Mr. Yu said.
The reporter's investigation found that Mr. Yu's experience was not uncommon. Similarly, some parking lots can only scan QR codes to pay, and some stores can only scan QR codes to pay at checkout; in a certain tertiary hospital, when receiving CT films and medicines, patients have to first go to a special bag taking machine to scan QR codes and pay attention. Only the public account can pick up the bag.
In addition to being forced to scan the QR code to pay attention, some consumers are more worried about advertising push and privacy leakage after scanning the QR code.
Not long ago, Mr. Dai from Bozhou, Anhui Province, needed to charge his car. He scanned the QR code of the charging pile downstairs in his community. After following the corresponding public account, he could pay the electricity bill and find nearby charging piles on it.
"One day, the official account suddenly sent a message saying that more than 200,000 points in my account are about to be cleared. Please redeem them immediately." Mr. Dai thought it was the points he accumulated through charging, but he didn't expect that the system would jump as soon as he clicked in. Go to a shopping website, which displays all kinds of tobacco and alcohol, and also marks special offers. "In fact, the so-called preferential price is no different from the normal price, and the more than 200,000 points are even more illusory." Mr. Dai said.
Due to work needs, Mr. Dai often travels and stays in hotels. When issuing invoices, he sometimes encounters the front desk refusing to provide manual services. "Scan the QR code to issue an invoice. In addition to providing the invoice header and tax number, the official account will also ask you to fill in your mobile phone number, email address and other information." Mr. Dai said that this increases the risk of leaking personal privacy.
Why does the QR code scanning service that should be convenient add trouble to everyone’s lives? During the investigation, the reporter learned that, on the one hand, some merchants can save labor and time through QR code scanning services, and can accurately push advertisements to users and reduce customer acquisition costs; on the other hand, some public accounts and mini programs excessively collect personal information. , there is the possibility of illegal profits from reselling information.
"Article 16 of the Consumer Rights Protection Law stipulates that operators shall not set unfair or unreasonable transaction conditions when providing goods or services to consumers. Article 26 stipulates that operators shall not use standard terms, notices, Statements, store notices, etc., are used to make unfair and unreasonable regulations for consumers such as excluding or restricting consumer rights, reducing or exempting operators from liability, and increasing consumer liability." Huang, a lawyer at Beijing Deheng (Hefei) Law Firm Min believes that merchants' refusal to provide manual services is essentially a disguised form of forcing consumers to choose to scan QR codes for consumption, which to a certain extent violates consumers' rights to fair transactions.
From the perspective of personal information protection, Article 6 of the Personal Information Protection Law stipulates that the collection of personal information should be limited to the minimum scope to achieve the purpose of processing, and excessive collection of personal information should not be allowed. Under normal circumstances, consumers only scan QR codes to order food or check out. Merchants excessively collect personal information such as date of birth and phone number through QR codes and official accounts. These behaviors are neither reasonable nor illegal.
"If they encounter forced code scanning, consumers have the right to refuse and can report and complain to the local market supervision department or the Consumers Association." Huang Min said that consumers can also choose to complain to the local market supervision department or consumer association on the grounds of infringement of personal rights or personal information. A civil lawsuit was filed in court.
The "Regulations on the Management of Information Services for Internet Users' Public Accounts" clearly states that without the informed consent of Internet users, subscriptions and follow-up to other users' public accounts may not be forced or forced in any disguised form. The China Consumers Association also carried out nationwide consumer supervision work last year to "oppose forced attention to public accounts" to better protect the legitimate rights and interests of consumers.
The relevant person in charge of the Hefei Consumer Rights Protection Committee stated that operators must not force or induce consumers to pay attention to the operator’s official account, and those who push marketing information should provide unsubscribe or reject options. Operators of mini programs that provide QR code consumption services should prompt consumers with a pop-up window or other conspicuous means of the privacy policy before collecting consumers' personal information. They must not check the consent box by default or only provide consent options.
The Hefei Municipal Consumer Protection Commission recommends that relevant departments strengthen administrative compliance guidance for code-scanning consumption scenarios such as parking, charging, and invoicing, and standardize operators' setting of QR codes and collection and use of consumers through publicity, supervision, and law enforcement. Personal Information Conduct. (People’s Daily reporter Tian Xianxian)