"If you don't clean it up, it will explode", "Red envelopes get money", "Watch videos, draw prizes"... The inductive ads that pop up in mobile apps have been criticized for a long time. On the evening of March 15, CCTV exposed the chaos of mobile phone cleaning software inducing downloads and excessive collection of personal information. According to reports, the "Mobile Manager PRO" app, which claims to clean up the memory, can read the list of mobile apps 890 times and more than 50 geographic location information in 8.75 seconds.
Mobile application advertising. The picture is reported by CCTV.
In addition, these inducing advertisements not only excessively collect personal information, but also label users as "easy to be induced". Especially for elderly users, all kinds of advertisements with deceptive routines are promoted to the elderly, which is likely to draw them into the trap of fraud. The Southern Metropolis reporter noted that network security issues have also become a major obstacle for the elderly to use smart phones, and this issue has also aroused the attention of the whole society.
Clean-up software "secretly" collects a large amount of personal information
According to CCTV News, Ms. Li, who is in her 70s, found that her smartphone was running slower and slower when she was using her smart phone. When she was reading news and novels, her mobile phone would often automatically pop up "safety reminders", such as "severe memory shortage" and "viruses." These "safety tips" scared Ms. Li to click to clean up. However, Ms. Li just used a cleaning software to complete the cleaning, and there will be more similar software to remind Ms. Li to clean up. Not only has her mobile phone become more and more sluggish, but also inducement advertisements such as "red envelopes to get money" frequently appear. In this regard, experts from the Cybersecurity Center of the China Electronics Standardization Institute tested this phenomenon: After clicking on the memory cleaning advertisement in the novel reading software, you can download and install an app called "Memory Optimization Master". In the process of automatic cleaning of the above App, the reminder of "Clean the phone cache" will continue to pop up. After clicking, the phone downloaded and installed an app called "Super Clean Master". Within a few minutes, 4 cleanup software appeared on the phone.
4 types of cleaning software. The picture is reported by CCTV.
Are these cleaning masters really helping you clean up mobile phone trash? Testers tested "Mobile Manager PRO" and found that it had read 890 mobile phone application lists, more than 1,300 mobile phone user ID IMSI numbers, more than 900 mobile device ID IMEI numbers, and more than 50 in 8.75 seconds. The user’s GPS (Global Positioning System) geographic location information. He Yanzhe, deputy director of the Evaluation Laboratory of the China Electronics Standardization Institute Network Security Center, said that on the surface, this App seems to be cleaning up mobile phone trash, but behind the scenes it is constantly acquiring information from the mobile phone. He introduced that this App will collect a lot of personal information, and even upload it at a high frequency. As mobile phones become more stuck, elderly users will be recruited again to download this clean-up App, forming a vicious circle. For young people, this kind of in-app download-inducing advertisements still have a certain ability to recognize them. But from the physiological point of view of the elderly, they may not look very good. If they can't close these advertisements, they just touch the download. In addition, the CCTV report emphasized that this type of App constantly sends user data information in the background, portrays the old people, and label them "easy to be misled and induced" as a group. All kinds of vulgar and inferior advertisements and content, even with deceptive routines, will be pushed to the mobile phones of the elderly far and away.
The elderly’s cyber security issues arouse the attention of the whole society
From "inductive advertising" to "Internet fraud," many elderly people have told Nandu reporters that when using smartphones, they are always worried about their insecurity. Lin Fengchun, who is nearly eighty years old, said that he once saw a pop-up advertisement for insurance for only 3 yuan. After clicking the instructions, he was eventually deducted 282 yuan. Aunt Zheng chose to only put a small amount of money in the bank card bound to her mobile phone, even if she was cheated away, she didn't feel distressed. According to previous surveys by Nandu, nearly 70% of the elderly face obstacles of "inducing downloads" and "too many advertisements" in using mobile phone software; nearly 60% of the elderly encounter obstacles of "advertising without a close button and easy to touch by mistake". And more than 50% of the elderly hope to reduce excessive interference from advertising. Han Libo, the person in charge of Didi’s “Elderly Taxi” Special Team, once said that one of the problems reported by elderly users is that many apps carry a lot of functions, have complex interfaces, and are not friendly to the elderly, such as many advertisements.
According to the 47th "Statistical Report on Internet Development in China" issued by the China Internet Information Center (CNNIC), as of December 2020, the proportion of Internet users aged 50 and above has increased from 16.9% in March 2020 to 26.3% , The Internet further penetrated into the middle-aged and elderly groups. The digital dilemma faced by the elderly has also aroused the attention of the whole society. In November last year, the General Office of the State Council issued the "Implementation Plan on Effectively Solving the Difficulties of the Elderly in Using Intelligent Technology", which proposed to effectively ensure that the elderly can safely use intelligent products and enjoy intelligent services. The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology has launched "Internet application ageing and barrier-free transformation" from January this year, requiring Internet websites and mobile apps to be adapted to the old version after the transformation, and there will no longer be ad plug-ins, especially payment operations. Inductive buttons for convenient and safe use by various special groups. Lu Jiehua, a professor in the Department of Sociology at Peking University, once said that the core of the age-appropriate transformation is to build a social environment that is shared by all regardless of age, which is also vital to solving the problem of aging. Whether it is young people, middle-aged people, decision makers, or suppliers, “everyone is on the way to getting old.” (In order to protect privacy, the old people in the article are pseudonyms.) Written by: Nandu trainee reporter Sun Chao