Photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice on Wednesday notifying 38 mobile apps, including some of the most popular like Tencent's QQ Music, for law violations such as excessive collection of users' personal information. This is the first big clampdown since the Personal Information Protection Law started to take effect on Monday.

The inspection came in response to some complaints from users of applications such as iterating over range, frequent requests for permissions, collection of users' personal information that is not necessary for service scenarios, and deceiving and misleading users to download, according to the notice from MIIT.

Some of the most widely used apps like Tencent's QQ music and Xiaohongshu were also involved in the law violations.

All the app operators were required to fully rectify these issues before November 9 or they will face corresponding administrative penalties, according to the ministry.

The announcement of the inspection came just few days after the Personal Information Protection Law came into effect on Monday, becoming a strong shield against infringement and a safeguard of the interests of netizens by addressing online violations like the excessive collection of personal information.

Independent technology analyst, Liu Dingding, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the public announcement of the inspection's result is part of the government's effort to provide a healthy internet environment.

"The recent announcement rings the alarms for internet service providers to spontaneously and timely rectify their illegal activities before being discovered and disclosed publicly," Liu said, adding that "if the companies do not rectify and reform accordingly after the announcement, they could face delisting in serious cases."

Photo: VCG

China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) issued a notice on Wednesday notifying 38 mobile apps, including some of the most popular like Tencent's QQ Music, for law violations such as excessive collection of users' personal information. This is the first big clampdown since the Personal Information Protection Law started to take effect on Monday.

The inspection came in response to some complaints from users of applications such as iterating over range, frequent requests for permissions, collection of users' personal information that is not necessary for service scenarios, and deceiving and misleading users to download, according to the notice from MIIT.

Some of the most widely used apps like Tencent's QQ music and Xiaohongshu were also involved in the law violations.

All the app operators were required to fully rectify these issues before November 9 or they will face corresponding administrative penalties, according to the ministry.

The announcement of the inspection came just few days after the Personal Information Protection Law came into effect on Monday, becoming a strong shield against infringement and a safeguard of the interests of netizens by addressing online violations like the excessive collection of personal information.

Independent technology analyst, Liu Dingding, told the Global Times on Wednesday that the public announcement of the inspection's result is part of the government's effort to provide a healthy internet environment.

"The recent announcement rings the alarms for internet service providers to spontaneously and timely rectify their illegal activities before being discovered and disclosed publicly," Liu said, adding that "if the companies do not rectify and reform accordingly after the announcement, they could face delisting in serious cases."