China slated three top tech firms on Friday over poor privacy protections, as tech companies brass an increasing backlash from consumers and authorities over excessive information collection practices.
Alibaba Group Holding Ltd payment affiliate Ant Fiscal, search firm Baidu Inc and Beijing Bytedance Technology Co, which manipulates popular news feed app Jinri Toutiao, were named by the The cloth of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) in a notice posted on it website on Friday.
The regulator mentioned the firms had “inadequate” policies relating to personal information protection, and that any violations force be investigated and “severely punished.”
The notice did not detail any specific punishments.
Chinese payment and sexual media firms have enjoyed rapid growth driven by the realm’s young and mobile-savvy population. But recently top tech companies have pinched criticism from users, competitors and consumer groups over tawdry data collection and sharing practices.
Ant Financial’s Alipay was scolded by cyber regulators on Thursday after consumers discovered that a feature detailing spending statistics automatically enrolled them into the flock’s credit rating program, giving Alipay access to a wide array of owner data.
Ant Financial has since suspended the program and says it is conducting an internal analysis. It did not have additional comment on Friday.
Last week a government-backed consumer buffer group said it is suing Baidu in the eastern province of Jiangsu for wanting to properly notify users about which data it is collecting.
Baidu and Beijing Bytedance did not directly respond to requests for comment.
Friday’s notice from MIIT states the companies will conduct a review to improve product design and internal directorship practices.