The Fair Trade Commission has launched an investigation into concerns over the infringement and leakage of personal information in Chinese e-commerce companies.
According to the industry on the 7th, the FTC recently initiated an ex officio investigation into unfair terms in AliExpress and Temu.
The investigation focuses on the prevention of consumer personal information infringement and overseas leakage. They are to examine whether there are unfair clauses in the terms and conditions of AliExpress and Temu that excessively collect and utilize consumer personal information.
If such unfair clauses are found, the FTC plans to request Ali and Temu for voluntary corrections.
Earlier in the day, a civic group accused AliExpress and Temu of violating the Personal Information Protection Act and the Information and Information Network Act and urged them to stop collecting personal information from Korean consumers.
Before the investigation of AliExpress and Temu, Park Soon Jang, the secretary-general of the Citizens United for Consumer Sovereignty (CUCS), held a brief press conference at the Cyber Investigation Team in Jahamun Annex of the Seoul Police Station in Jongno-gu, Seoul. He stated, “AliExpress and Temu must disclose in detail the status of personal information management that has been transferred to third countries,” and “They must stop collecting private information unrelated to product purchases.”
Secretary-General Park said, “Collecting location services, communal entrance passwords, etc., has nothing to do with product purchases.” He added, “The police should not discriminate against domestic commerce companies, but should equally apply the laws and systems thoroughly according to the principals of reciprocity to investigate and strongly punish violations. Do not be too conscious of China.”
