"We will never install cameras again. We didn't know that this kind of behavior was illegal before, but now we realize our mistakes through the interpretation of the law by the prosecutors..."
Recently, when the case-handling prosecutors of the Nanguan District People’s Procuratorate of Changchun City, Jilin Province went to various sales centers to carry out public interest litigation “looking back”, a staff member of a sales center said that he had a new understanding of the illegal collection of face information, and would never Cameras that capture facial information will no longer be installed.
In the past year, in response to the phenomenon of installing a face capture system in the sales center, the Changchun procuratorate actively performed its public interest supervision duties and eliminated the potential safety hazard of citizens' personal information leakage.
Several sales centers where facial information was illegally collected before have all been actively demolished.
The relevant person in charge of the Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate said in an interview with a reporter from the "Rule of Law Daily" that the Changchun procuratorate will give full play to its public interest litigation functions, continue to strengthen communication and cooperation with various functional departments, and form a joint force to combat crimes that infringe on citizens' personal information.
There are tricks hidden in the sales center
Illegal collection of face information
In October 2021, relying on the public interest litigation big data platform, the Changchun Municipal People's Procuratorate discovered clues to a case of illegal collection of facial information by a sales center in Nanguan District.
When Ms. Wang, a citizen of Changchun, followed an intermediary to a sales center in Nanguan District to see a house, she was led to a designated area to "scan her face".
The intermediary told her that only in this way can she get the specific price and discount for buying a house.
After returning home, Ms. Wang suspected that there might be a risk of face information leakage, so she reported it to the 12309 prosecutorial service hotline.
"We conducted a preliminary investigation on the clues of the case, and invited the police from the information technology department of the Nanguan District Public Security Bureau to assist in the investigation and evidence collection." The case-handling prosecutor of the Nanguan District Procuratorate told reporters that they visited 4 sales centers and found 3 All sales centers installed cameras with face recognition functions. Investigators fixed the evidence by taking pictures and on-site inquiries. The police extracted the face data storage information of the background operating system.
In the picture materials provided by the prosecutor handling the case, the reporter saw that on a certain sales management system, the camera screen was facing the door of the sales center. The system automatically captured and stored the faces of the people passing by, forming a clear face image. There is a detailed time accurate to the second under each image, and the system also automatically generates a set of IDs for copying faces, and the administrator can edit and set the image tags...
"We asked the person in charge of the sales center and learned that the installation of the face capture camera is mainly to determine whether the visitor is an individual visitor or is guided by an intermediary, so as to settle the commission with the intermediary." The prosecutor handling the case said.
After review, the Nanguan District Procuratorate found that several sales centers involved in the case installed cameras with face recognition functions at entrances, sand tables and other places where consumers often stay, and illegally collected them without the express consent of consumers. , The use and storage of consumers' face information has seriously violated social and public interests.
"At the beginning of last year, we issued procuratorial recommendations to the relevant administrative departments in accordance with the law, suggesting that they immediately perform their supervisory duties, investigate and deal with the illegal collection of consumer face information by the sales center involved in the case, and carry out special rectification actions in the field of personal information protection. ’ said the prosecutor handling the case.
In June 2022, the relevant administrative department of Changchun City adopted the procuratorial suggestion in the form of a written reply, and issued a "Notice of Order for Rectification" to the sales center involved in the case in accordance with the law, requiring it to correct the illegal behavior within a time limit. The center carried out special rectification work in the industry, and resolutely investigated and dealt with illegal acts of illegally obtaining face information.
After special rectification activities, a notice of rectification order was issued, and more than 5,000 hidden dangers of citizens' personal information leakage were eliminated in total.
In order to give full play to the procuratorial functions of public interest litigation, the Changchun City Procuratorate also carried out special supervision activities on personal information protection, and conducted investigations on car dealerships and real estate properties for sale in the city.
During the period, the People’s Procuratorate of Luyuan District found that a sales center had illegally obtained personal information, actively communicated with relevant administrative departments, and issued procuratorial recommendations to urge it to rectify as soon as possible. At present, the sales center has completed rectification and achieved good results. Effect.
Abuse of face collection technology
infringe upon the public interest
Major sales centers are willing to spend money to buy face capture systems. Is it really used to identify "intermediaries bringing customers" or is it for other purposes?
The reporter interviewed Mr. Zhang who has been working as a housing intermediary in Changchun for more than ten years.
"The installation of the face capture system in the sales center started in the last two years. There was no such advanced technology before." Mr. Zhang said that the face capture system in the sales center is mainly used to identify "intermediaries bringing customers".
According to Mr. Zhang, after each large-scale building is completed, developers will try their best to expand sales channels. The ultimate goal is to sell the completed building, so they will choose a sales company for on-site sales, and at the same time entrust a housing agency , using intermediaries to bring customers to the sales center for sales.
"It is necessary to distinguish whether the customer is brought by an intermediary or the customer comes by himself. Therefore, the sales center has installed a face capture system. It is clear at a glance who the customer who buys the house is." Mr. Zhang said frankly, absolutely Most customers don't know about it, only insiders or those who work in this industry know the mystery.
Regarding the behavior of secretly capturing face information, Mr. Zhang believes that there is indeed a risk of personal information leakage to a certain extent.
"The behavior of the sales center violated the principle of necessity to collect personal information, violated the consumer's right to know, right to portrait, and right to privacy, and there is a risk of personal information leakage." Jilin lawyer Wu Xiuyan said that the sales center or other institutions will not With the consent of the consumer, the camera is used to capture and store the consumer's face information through the camera, and realize the customer classification through the captured information. Although it is for business operations, it seriously damages the rights and interests of consumers and social public interests. .
Wu Xiuyan suggested that the departments of market supervision, public security, procuratorate, and network information should cooperate and cooperate to form a joint force, formulate effective rules and regulations, supervise and rectify the illegal collection of citizens' personal information, coordinate and guide the industry's self-discipline, and promote the health of the industry develop.
Fulfill public interest supervision duties
Eliminate information security risks
The Civil Code stipulates that the processing of personal information should obtain the consent of the natural person or his guardian.
The Law on the Protection of Consumer Rights and Interests stipulates that when collecting and using consumers' personal information, business operators shall follow the principles of legality, justification, and necessity, expressly state the purpose, method and scope of collecting and using information, and obtain the consent of consumers.
When operators collect and use consumers' personal information, they shall disclose their collection and use rules, and shall not collect and use information in violation of the provisions of laws and regulations or the agreement of both parties.
In this regard, the procuratorate has also been working hard.
Not long ago, the People's Procuratorate of Jilin Province issued the "Working Opinions on Strengthening the Coordination and Cooperation between Economic Crime Procuratorate and Public Interest Litigation Procuratorate", requiring the province's economic crime procuratorial departments and public interest litigation procuratorial departments to strengthen the connection and cooperation, give full play to their respective functional advantages, and focus on key points Conduct supervision and case handling in industries and key areas of supervision, including key industries that deal with large-scale personal information, especially sensitive information, that are prone to personal information leakage, telecommunications network fraud, illegal and criminal risks, etc.
The "Opinions" comprehensively strengthen the protection of social and public interests in the fields of personal information, further improve the public interest litigation system, promote traceability and governance in related fields, and realize the combination of punishment and governance.
Aiming at the potential leakage of citizens’ personal information, Changchun’s procuratorial organs performed public interest supervision duties and held a public hearing on “personal information protection” in the express delivery industry. In response to various illegal acts discovered during the investigation, the procuratorial organs issued procuratorial recommendations and filed public interest litigation. Urge businesses to take effective measures to actively rectify and eliminate potential safety hazards.
The relevant person in charge of the Changchun Procuratorate stated that the Changchun Procuratorate will further increase the publicity of the rule of law by publishing typical cases and interpreting the law with cases, so as to gather social consensus, achieve diversified, normalized, and full coverage of publicity, and strengthen people's Public awareness of personal information protection.
Rule of Law Daily reporter Liu Zhongquan