The Zhejiang Consumer Rights Protection Committee recently conducted a survey on scan code consumption, revealing the following four common problems:
Firstly, the issue of forced following when scanning still exists. According to regulations, obtaining the user’s informed consent is necessary, but the survey shows that 40% of consumers were forced to follow a WeChat Official Account when scanning. Among consumer complaints, this practice ranks third.
Secondly, the terms of service are complicated and tedious and key terms are not prominently marked. The “Consumer Rights Protection Law” stipulates that standard clauses must clearly prompt the consumer’s attention. However, the survey found that in the process of scan code consumption, as much as 39% related to service and privacy terms, and these agreements are often lengthy and lack significant identification markers.
Then there is the issue of frequent pop-up ads that severely affect the consumer experience. According to the “Advertising Law,” internet advertisements must not interfere with the user’s normal use of the network and must provide an option to close the ad with one click. The survey points out that some merchants’ post-scan ad pop-ups lack a close sign, infringing on consumers’ rights, and this ranks second in complaints.
Finally, the behavior related to excessive collection of personal information is very common and poses a risk of personal information leakage. Some merchants require authorization of sensitive information such as usernames and phone numbers; otherwise, the service cannot be used. Survey experiences show that 64% of scan code consumption occasions involved the collection of information. Additionally, 25% of respondents were most dissatisfied with scan code consumption services related to personal information.
In conclusion, while scan code consumption brings convenience, the problems that exist within it urgently need to be resolved to ensure that consumers’ interests and rights are not infringed upon.
The Consumer Protection Committee calls out, emphasizing that merchants must ensure transparency, necessity, and voluntariness when providing QR code scanning services. All commercial activities must respect consumer choice, protect their lawful rights and interests, and abide by legal provisions.
“Forced following” may superficially increase the fan count for businesses, but it may actually cause consumer resentment and thus lose them. Enterprises should have a long-term view, think more from the consumer’s perspective to avoid letting the short-term increase in “traffic” have an adverse effect on their reputation and public praise.
The Consumer Protection Committee also suggests that enterprises operating in the consumer sector should pay close attention to regulatory trends, proactively rectify and self-examine to prevent unnecessary compliance risks due to non-compliance with regulations.
Finally, the Consumer Protection Committee recommends that consumers should increase their awareness to protect their legitimate rights and interests. If consumers discover that businesses are forcing them to follow public accounts during the provision of QR code scanning services, or are collecting personal information illegally, they should promptly report the situation or make a complaint to the local consumer protection committee, the market supervision department, or the cyber security and informatization department.
Self-service scanningconsumer rightsforced followingpop-up advertisingpersonal informationprivacy termsservice transparency
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