According to the latest news, in a move targeted at several popular mobile applications, the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) has disclosed several companies for being involved in the unauthorized collection and use of personal data of users. CAC is China’s internet regulatory watchdog. Many popular names were revealed by CAC. The list includes applications like TikTok, LinkedIn, Kuaishou, Microsoft’s Bing, and Kugou.
Reuters reported that in a statement posted on its official WeChat account, CAC said that it received complaints from users that prompted it to launch an investigation into the data collection activities of many mobile applications. After the initial rounds of investigation, CAC found that as many as 105 apps were violating privacy laws by collecting excessive personal information through illegal access.
The CAC statement also warns owners of the 105 apps to come up with a remedy of the observed breaches within 15 days. Here, the 105 apps are held accountable for collecting excessive user data unrelated to the app’s core services and forcing users to give uninformed consent to how their data are used.
CAC regularly scrutinizes mobile applications for possible breaches. CAC’s approach comes on the heels of the recent new regulations that provide stricter monitoring and controls for the public’s overall safety.
China is strengthening its laws and regulations in the rapidly evolving technological space. Recently, CAC fined some major brands like Alibaba and Tencent for breaching the rules. CAC is now governing their operations.
The body has eventually come up with rigid anti-monopoly laws. Though these measures are harsh, they will help shore up consumer confidence in the system. It also ensures that mobile applications will think twice before taking undue advantage of innocent users.
