More societal help needed to wean elderly away from their smartphones
The elderly are traditionally looked up to for their wisdom and sophistication, except in the uncharted waters of cyberspace.
Given their gullibility, and their lack of agility in navigating the many apps that keep popping up on their mobile phones, they have become favored targets for scams, often disguised as various seemingly attractive cash-for-clicks schemes.
This brings to mind an elderly man sitting next to me on a bus. He was busy throughout the journey swiping short videos on two mobile phones. Upon inquiry he explained to me, with great gusto, that after a good day's swiping, he would be entitled to a certain amount of cash. "Not bad for an idle pensioner like me, eh?" he asked, smugly. In his exuberance with the narrative, while juggling two screens, he missed his stop.
His assurance begged the question: why are these tech-savvy app designers so eager to enrich a pensioner like my fellow passenger?

Rogue apps are stealing elders' money and unsettling their life.
These elderly people, tantalized by the many get-rich schemes, have their mobile phones replete with all kinds of apps, with one senior famously having over 100 apps installed that take up six or seven interface pages, depleting the phone's memory, resulting in frequent freezes, or worse.
The issue is so pervasive that some college students, hoping to return to their native homes for holidays, especially during the Chinese New Year winter vacation, have been given a special assignment: help eradicate such apps from the mobiles phones of their grandparents, or other needy elders. In the best of scenarios, these apps, at the basic minimum, are stealing their time.
It does not take much imagination to suppose that most of these apps are run on lesser-known software, many no better than concealed or built-in backdoor that, if activated, might lead to automatic deductions, surreptitious money transfers, or sheer telecom scams.
A 2022 survey about apps by the China Consumers Association found that, of the over 100 apps evaluated, about 10 percent were suspected of inducing installments by deceptive means, or automatic billing, which results in seniors paying for something without realizing it.
In a report tallying consumer complaints during the first quarter of 2024 by the CCA, a significant proportion involved elderly citizens who experienced "autopay" after falling prey to schemes that are falsely or fraudulently represented as "free of charge," low-priced, or a fortuitously won prize.
In one case, an elderly had installed a plug-in that promised to foretell which share would yield the most earnings, and narrowly avoided being fleeced to the tune of 300,000 yuan (US$40,000).
Given these complications, it is obvious that a select number of college students alone are not sufficient. As a student observed with dismay, about the two phones belonging to his grandparents, "Just a few days after I cleaned up their mobile phones, when I checked again, there were dozens of new apps on the screen!"
This systematic problem calls for systematic solution, in terms of crime and punishment.
According to a February 2023 circular regarding the regulation of apps by relevant authority, app providers should not mislead customers to install the apps, or preempt their uninstalling, or having the apps activated without notification. In view of these provisions, it is high time authorities subjected these rogue software to strict regulation, so that the designers, and providers, pay for their malfeasance in full measure.
In fact, innocent looking app stores should be made accountable for hosting these rogue apps, for these store owners have the sophistication to weed out the black sheep in the first place.
Similarly, mobile payment operators should be held responsible for scams or thefts taking place on their turf.
A survey in August 2024 suggested that netizens above the age of 60 already account for 14 percent of the whole demographic. A later survey suggested that active elderly mobile users number 329 million, with an average elderly spending 129 hours a month on their phone.
The seniors need more societal help to wean them away from their smartphones.
