E-commerce case analysis series on "online group buying" (3): Be cautious of personal information when participating in group buying.

Reminder: Since the beginning of this year, online group buying has become a frequently exposed media focus with a high incidence of consumer rights protection disputes and continuous consumer complaints. This is a hot area in the field of electronic commerce. On February 20, May 8, and June 4, the author was invited three times to be a guest on the China National Radio Economic Voice "Daily 315" program to discuss legal traps and consumer rights issues related to e-commerce group buying. Based on the interview content, relevant complaints and rights protection cases were organized and summarized, followed by legal analysis and comments, forming the "E-Commerce Case Analysis Series". Among these are 3 cases of "online group buying", 4 cases of "online flash sales", 6 cases of "travel group buying", and 5 cases of "catering group buying", totaling 18 cases in the series. Author: Zhao Zhanju, contact information: [email protected], QQ: 50179636.

[Case Introduction]

After purchasing discounted cleaning supplies from a merchant through a group-buying website, Xiao Wang was dissatisfied with the product's performance. As a result, he stopped making any further purchases from that merchant via the group-buying site. Later, Xiao Wang began receiving frequent promotional SMS messages, emails, and paper letters from the merchant. He also started receiving calls at home from the merchant offering customer service and promotions. Xiao Wang was puzzled as to how the merchant obtained his mobile number, landline number, email address, and home address. Upon investigation, it was discovered that his personal information had been illegally provided to the merchant by the group-buying website. Xiao Wang believed that his right to privacy had been violated and thus sought redress from the group-buying website.

[Legal Analysis]

Zhao Zhanju, Chief Legal Advisor of China Network Law Network, Expert Committee Member of the Policy and Law Committee of the China E-Commerce Association, Invited Legal Expert of the Central People's Broadcasting Station "Economic Voice Daily 315" Program

This case involves the issue of protecting personal information in online shopping. Before the Spring Festival, the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology formulated China’s first national standard concerning personal information protection, which is currently open for public comment from all sectors of society. It stipulates that websites collecting users' personal information should do so only when it is relevant to the services they provide, meaning that the collection of certain information is necessary, such as understanding user habits and needs in order to improve products and offer better services to users. At the same time, when collecting personal information, users should be clearly informed about what information is being collected and the purposes for which it is being collected. The use of collected personal information should not exceed the stated purpose. For example, if the information is collected to improve services but is secretly provided to third parties for profit, this is a typical illegal act. If the personal information constitutes private data, it also infringes upon the user's right to privacy, allowing the user to file a complaint or even sue the group-buying website under the "Tort Liability Law."

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