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China's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology released on Thursday a notification about problems with dozens of mobile applications that infringe upon users' rights.

A total of 38 mobile applications were identified with problems such as pushing pop-up information that violates regulations or coercively, frequently, and excessively asking for permission from users.

The ministry organized for third-party testing institutions to conduct sampling tests on the mobile applications in a bid to consolidate the results of governance and create a favorable environment for jointly safeguarding the rights and interests of consumers.

Several popular apps such as information and knowledge provider Dedao and health platform Dingxiang Yisheng were among the problematic applications exposed by the ministry.

Apart from the aforementioned problems, these apps were also found to deceive, mislead or coerce users, collect personal information and force users to use directional push functions.

The ministry ordered these apps to complete their rectification before October 20, 2022 and those that fail to comply will be dealt with in accordance with laws and regulations.

Global Times