China Raps Up Subway, Domino's Pizza, Agoda And 44 Others For Violating Users' Rights

In its latest check-up of app security, China has called out Subway, Agoda, Domino's Pizza, Inc DPZ, and 44 other companies for violating users' rights.

What Happened: Xi Jinping-led government's Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) on Friday released its latest list of problematic apps, where it accused several companies, among others, of violating users' data rights, South China Morning Post reported.

In the list, MIIT accused travel-booking company Booking Holdings Inc's BKNG Agoda app of "illegally collecting user information," while it said Domino's Pizza app in the country "requested for permission in a forced, frequent and excessive way." The list also included the Japanese fast food chain Yoshinoya, which the authorities said forced the users to turn on a targeted push feature. 

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The ministry has asked the companies to solve the problems by Sept. 5, or they may be subjected to punishments.

An email sent by Benzinga to Domino's, Subway, and Agoda seeking comment didn't elicit any response as of press time.

MIIT and the Cyberspace Administration of China (CAC) have regularly called out app developers over data practices since 2019. It has released 25 lists of problematic apps in the last three years — and this is the fifth one in 2022.

Apps featured in the previous lists have been mostly later allowed to continue operating with changes. However, a small percentage have been permanently shut down.

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