Fang Zhou The Big Data Age privacy security

Recently, the network of well-known counterfeiters ark to challenge the eyes of Qihoo 360 Company's series of software. He blames the 360 company's software for collecting user privacy information in the name of security. Qihoo 360 is fighting back, saying the Ark is a rumor. The network also called the debate "Square Week war". The war of words between the two sides once again triggered the Netizen's discussion and concern about the network information security. October 25, Ministry of Industry spokesman Zhang Feng, director of communications development, said that the Qihoo 360 company will launch an investigation.

Technological progress makes regulation "stretched"

The controversy between Fang and 360 has attracted a large number of participants, and some in the industry have even said they have mastered the evidence of 360 of companies violating Internet privacy.

Shi Wenchang, Professor of Renmin University of China and academic leader in information security discipline, is one of the people who burst the material. Netizens may recall a password leak at a programmer's website at the end of last year, he said, but Fang blamed 360 companies for stealing users ' privacy in contrast to the password leak incident. Password leaks can only mean that internet companies are not protected or have insufficient capacity to protect personal information, while stealing privacy is a malicious act of theft.

So why do internet companies dare to "knowingly" protect their privacy?

Yu Guofu, an expert member of the China Internet Association's Policy and Resources committee, said that with technology changing, government regulation of Internet companies has become increasingly difficult. He said that at present, many Internet sites are using VIE architecture (variable interest entities), that is to say, some network companies are actually registered abroad, and our government departments are only these internet companies in China, a brand only, limited administrative authority, powerless.

Yu Guofu said that under the VIE structure, the Chinese government's management of the Internet is mainly to issue various licenses. At present, in addition to antivirus, firewall and other security software, the relevant agencies do not design license for other software programs, "electronic software products and traditional physical products are very different, software developers can easily make a sample submitted to the user, this sample can be downloaded using the same." ”

Although the ministry said it would investigate 360 companies, experts such as Yu Guofu said they were not optimistic. In their view, the test sample has too strong subjectivity and randomness, so it is not reliable to require an accreditation body to issue a "clean" license to a particular software.

Relevant laws are difficult to provide strong protection of supervision

In recent years, network information security incidents frequently, from the November 3, 2010 outbreak of "3Q war" to the late December 2011, the programmer website password leaked events, and then to the recent outbreak of "Ark Son and 360 war", user privacy repeatedly on the network "naked". Is technology the internet's "do whatever" umbrella?

Qiping, Secretary General of the Information Research Center of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said that in addition to the regulatory problems brought about by the technology, the legislative lag also makes the regulation in an impossible state, "although there are relevant laws, but are very sketchy, internet companies know that even if it violates the privacy of users, the law ”

Qiping said that with the advent of the large data age, the development of technology also put forward new challenges, internet privacy protection is one of the problems. This is China's problem, in developed countries as well.

It is reported that back in 2010, Berlin, Germany held thousands of people to participate in the data privacy Parade. In 2012, the Obama administration unveiled the privacy bill, calling on companies to give more control to their users when using private information. The European Union has also introduced a bill on "forgotten powers", in which consumers have the right to require companies to purge their personal data. But it will take a long time before these bills are truly implemented.

In addition to legislation lag, the lack of operational compensation punitive mechanism also makes Internet enterprises often take user privacy security as a joke. Yu Guofu said that 360 companies to steal user privacy category of cases are generally classified into intellectual property cases, in intellectual property case, the loss of the victims of infringement, the infringer's ill-gotten gains and the judge's discretionary compensation is the most important basis for the current decision.

However, Yu Guofu explained that due to the loss of reputation and business opportunities often cannot be measured by evidence, many software claims that they are free, such cases of compensation is not high. ”

According to incomplete statistics, since 2010, 360 cases have lost six, six cases claimed amount of nearly 40 million yuan, and 360 the final amount of compensation is not hundreds of thousands of yuan.

(Responsible editor: The good of the Legacy)