Protect personal information and escort the development of digital economy
Make Rules for "Algorithm Application" (Online China)
After using an application, it can "guess" what you like, and accurately push relevant content, which breeds problems such as "information cocoon room" and big data "killing".
That has finally started to change recently.
With the recent official implementation of the "Regulations on the Administration of Algorithm Recommendations for Internet Information Services" jointly issued by the State Internet Information Office and other four departments, many APPs have launched the algorithm shutdown button one after another, allowing users to close the "personalized recommendation" with one click in the background.
Experts said that it is necessary to continue to consolidate the responsibility of the platform, promote the application of algorithms to be good, let the algorithms better serve users, and promote the long-term and healthy development of the information service industry.
"Personalized Recommendations" can be turned off with one click
By referring to the "strategies" on the Internet, Ms. Wang in Beijing finally closed the "personalized recommendation" service option in a social app recently. "When I open this app again, I feel a lot more at ease."
The reason why Ms. Wang decided to turn off the "personalized recommendation" service stemmed from some bad experiences she had encountered before.
She once made remarks about dry skin in this app, and since then, she has received articles on the secrets of facial "freshness" and promotions of beauty products on various platforms, making Ms. Wang unbearable.
In the era of mobile Internet, everyone is producing "data".
Previously, these "data" were collected by the platform in various ways, and then the user's behavior, habits and preferences were analyzed through algorithms, and then various services such as information, entertainment, and consumption were accurately provided.
While this algorithm-based technological innovation provides users with accurate information services, it also breeds many problems.
The "Regulations on the Administration of Algorithm Recommendations for Internet Information Services" (hereinafter referred to as the "Administrative Regulations") came into effect recently, bringing algorithmic recommendation services into full supervision.
The "Administrative Regulations" propose that algorithm recommendation service providers should provide users with options that are not tailored to their personal characteristics, or provide users with a convenient option to turn off the algorithm recommendation service.
After the promulgation of the "Administrative Regulations", many platforms have launched the algorithm shutdown button successively, allowing users to close the "personalized recommendation" with one click in the background.
After the user turns off the "personalized recommendation", the platform will distribute the content according to the popularity of the content, and the pushed content will reflect the characteristics of the application.
Many netizens said that they were always "arranged" to watch some content before, but after turning off "personalized recommendation", they felt they saw a wider world.
After the experience, the reporter found that most apps still open "personalized recommendation" by default, and it is not easy to find the "personalized recommendation" close button.
Take an e-commerce application as an example, you need to click to enter several pages successively, and then find the close button of "personalized recommendation" in the more than 10 options presented.
Some users believe that such a setting method is difficult to describe as "convenient", and its purpose is to make users "back out of trouble".
Does turning off personalized recommendations mean that algorithmic recommendation technology has come to an end?
Cheng Xusen, a professor at the School of Information, Renmin University of China, analyzed that with the implementation of the new regulations, how to make personalized recommendations more standardized is a great challenge, but it has also promoted the technological development and progress of various Internet platforms, which is conducive to accelerating the promotion of related industries. digital transformation and the healthy development of the platform economy.
Work together to promote products for good
For the same order, regular customers pay more than new customers, and users question the platform's use of algorithm models to "kill familiarity" with big data.
The "Administrative Regulations" propose that when algorithm recommendation service providers sell goods or provide services to consumers, they shall protect consumers' rights to fair transactions, and shall not use algorithms in transaction conditions such as transaction prices based on consumers' preferences, transaction habits, and other characteristics. Unreasonable differential treatment and other illegal acts.
Zuo Xiaodong, vice president of the China Academy of Information Security, believes that big data "killing" and other chronic diseases are ultimately caused by the misuse of users' personal information.
To solve such problems, we must first work hard to curb the illegal collection of users' personal information, and secondly protect the rights and interests of users such as the right to choose and delete.
"When I watch short videos and play games, I don't feel that time passes quickly, but every time I put down my mobile phone, I find that several hours have passed." Mr. Chen, who works in a company in Shanghai, sighed with emotion. , I feel like I can't stop being poisoned.
Many other netizens complained that when they repeatedly browsed a certain product, the platform would display a series of promotional offers, and many people placed orders blindly.
The "Administrative Regulations" propose that algorithm recommendation service providers should regularly review, evaluate, and verify algorithm mechanisms, models, data, and application results, and must not set up algorithm models that induce users to indulge in addiction, excessive consumption, etc. that violate laws and regulations or violate ethics.
Qiu Zeqi, director of the China Society and Development Research Center at Peking University, told reporters that sociology divides people's preferred content into two ideal types. One is rational, similar to people's views on things, and the other is "self". Preference is a part of human cognitive preferences, and it is easy to form the "information cocoon room" effect or "echoing gallery" effect; the other type is perceptual, similar to people's feelings for things, people are easily infected by others emotionally, Easy to produce "emotional contagion" effect.
Qiu Zeqi believes that in the digital age, many products are dynamic products, and it is necessary to continuously optimize and iterate products based on interactive data, and to meet user needs through product upgrades and algorithm upgrades.
Based on the complexity of human cognitive preferences, in addition to product responsibilities, enterprises should also undertake corresponding social responsibilities, including users in product development, production and services, and through the joint participation of the government, enterprises and users, the establishment of corresponding rules, and continuous promotion Products for good, technology for good.
Enable responsible innovation
In recent years, some companies have used algorithms to register fake accounts, hire online "navy soldiers", and encourage fans of "fan circle" to tear apart and abuse each other, swipe their reviews, manipulate and interfere with hot searches, lists, or ranking of search results; push messages to minors Inappropriate content... In response to these problems, the "Administrative Regulations" proposes to "establish and improve management systems such as algorithm mechanism review, technology ethics review, user registration, information release review, etc." "To provide algorithm recommendation services, we should abide by laws and regulations, respect social ethics and ethics, compliance with business ethics and professional ethics” and other measures.
In a deeper sense, a series of issues arising from the innovation of algorithm technology involve the ethics of science and technology.
The "Opinions on Strengthening the Ethical Governance of Science and Technology" recently issued by the General Office of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the General Office of the State Council proposed to strengthen the governance at the source, focus on prevention, and apply the requirements of science and technology ethics throughout the entire process of scientific research, technology development and other scientific and technological activities, and promote scientific and technological activities and technology. Coordinated development of ethics, benign interaction, and responsible innovation.
Jiang Qiping, director of the Information Technology Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that from the perspective of technological innovation, algorithm technology should be pushed back to the normal track, such as recommending reading content based solely on people's preferences. into a machine, without taking into account that humans still have free will.
From the perspective of value ethics, the essence of philosophical goodness and ethics stems from free will, so the human side and the relationship between people should be considered in technology in the process of technological innovation.
Experts believe that the innovation of algorithm technology in the digital age should be a responsible innovation, and the responsibility of the platform should be further consolidated to ensure that scientific and technological activities conform to scientific and technological ethics.
Only by insisting on placing consumers' right to judge information services over their right to collection can we better grasp the development direction of the personalized information service format and promote the high-quality development of the digital economy.
Our reporter Peng Xunwen