Boom in e-commerce necessitates better protection of personal data

THE ANNUAL “DOUBLE 11” Singles’ Day shopping gala generated sales of 213.5 billion yuan ($30.7 billion) on Sunday, breaking the record of 168.2 billion yuan last year. China Daily reporter Li Yang comments:

Sunday marked the 10th anniversary of the Nov 11 online shopping gala created by Alibaba’s online marketplace Tmall.

On the one hand, the record-high sales year after year are a good example of how consumption has become a growth driver of the Chinese economy, and that, as some say, China’s domestic consumption is not being constrained by the ongoing trade frictions with the United States.

Statistics from the world’s largest e-commerce company indicate the spending per customer on the day has increased several times over the past few years, and quality, customized and luxurious imported goods have gained in popularity, showing the spending power of Chinese consumers continues to grow.

And since nearly half the population live in rural areas where the e-commerce market has not fully developed, China still has a lot of consumption power waiting to be unleashed.

But the e-commerce boom has been accompanied by the decline of offline stores particularly small businesses, many of which served local neighborhoods and communities for decades.

The exorbitant property prices and rents have unavoidably pushed up the retail prices of goods and services in bricks-and-mortar stores, which therefore stand no chance of winning the price competition with the e-commerce giants.

The mammoth e-commerce companies are also extending their reach into other sectors such as mobile finance and the big-data industry, which will make them even more powerful business complexes.

Yet the security of financial and personal information remains a challenge. Almost all the large e-commerce companies have fallen prey to hackers or inside moles selling personal data.

It is high time the authorities took concrete actions to strengthen regulation and supervision of the industry to ensure people’s interests are protected.