Infant and maternity product website ordered to change user data policies

The Shanghai Consumer Council on Thursday ordered an online seller of infant and maternity items to amend its policies on user data collection.

According to the council, the website Beibei was found to be gathering personal data and information from its customers which were unnecessary for its business operations.

The website's operators claimed that the information was used for credit services offered by third parties on its platform, yet the council found that user authorization agreements were too opaque and exposed consumers' personal data to unnecessary risk.

The 11 loan products available through the website also contained flawed information release forms, and some had qualification issues, the council added.

Last month, the council identified 25 online apps and websites which required users' permission to share sensitive personal information considered irrelevant to their intended functioning.

Online food delivery service Ele.me, travel websites Qyer and TripAdvisor, and car rental companies eHi and CAR Inc have all recently deleted unnecessary data collection authorization following orders from authorities.