在線消費(fèi)貸款在中國的興起,已經(jīng)催生了一個活躍的專門買賣被竊用戶數(shù)據(jù)的黑市。
Virtually non-existent in the country five years ago, consumer lending through websites and mobile apps has expanded rapidly over the past 18 months amid a proliferation of fintech start-ups that use big data to assess credit risk.
五年前在中國幾乎不存在的消費(fèi)貸款業(yè)務(wù),在過去18個月里通過網(wǎng)站和手機(jī)app迅速發(fā)展,其背景是大批金融科技初創(chuàng)企業(yè)成立,它們利用大數(shù)據(jù)來評估客戶的信用風(fēng)險(xiǎn)。
Two such companies, Qudian and Ppdai, have completed initial public offerings in New York since October, capitalising on investor enthusiasm for fintech. Their share prices have suffered in recent weeks, however, after Chinese authorities launched a crackdown on the industry. Chinese regulators last week suspended issuance of licences for new online lenders.
自10月以來,兩家這樣的公司,趣店(Qudian)和拍拍貸(Ppdai),在紐約完成了首次公開發(fā)行(IPO),充分利用了投資者對金融科技的熱情。不過,它們的股價在近幾周下滑,原因是中國有關(guān)部門對該行業(yè)進(jìn)行整治。中國監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)上周暫停發(fā)放新的在線貸款機(jī)構(gòu)許可證。
While regulators appear to be focused mainly on default risk from unqualified borrowers and abusive collection practices, experts are also raising concerns over data privacy.
監(jiān)管機(jī)構(gòu)似乎主要關(guān)注不合格借款人的違約風(fēng)險(xiǎn)以及粗暴的催收做法,專家們還提出了數(shù)據(jù)隱私方面的擔(dān)憂。
“Consumers know that loan platforms are collecting their data but they don’t know who is selling it,” said Zhang Yi, chief executive of iiMedia Research, a consultancy. “For the most part, these platforms aren’t selling data as their main business or they wouldn’t be able to survive. But employees who manage the data are the main source of data leaks.”
“消費(fèi)者知道貸款平臺在采集他們的數(shù)據(jù),但他們并不知道是誰在出售數(shù)據(jù),”艾媒咨詢(iiMedia Research)首席執(zhí)行官張毅表示。“在大多數(shù)情況下,這些平臺不是以銷售數(shù)據(jù)為主要業(yè)務(wù),否則它們無法生存。但是管理數(shù)據(jù)的員工是數(shù)據(jù)泄露的主要來源。”
In a chatroom devoted to consumer lending on Tencent’s QQ social-media platform, the Financial Times contacted a person claiming to be an employee of an online lender who was offering user data for sale.
在騰訊(Tencent) QQ社交媒體平臺上一個專門討論消費(fèi)信貸的聊天室中,英國《金融時報(bào)》聯(lián)系了一名自稱是在線貸款機(jī)構(gòu)員工的人,此人聲稱有用戶數(shù)據(jù)可以出售。
For Rmb4 ($0.61) per user, he offered to provide the full name, national ID number, phone number and loan limit. He added that for some borrowers, the data would also include a credit score from Sesame Credit, the unit of Alibaba’s financial affiliate Ant Financial that sells credit scores to banks and consumer lenders with users’ consent.
他提出,能夠以每條用戶信息4元人民幣(合0.61美元)的價格,提供全名、身份證號碼、電話號碼和貸款限額。他補(bǔ)充說,對于一些借款人,數(shù)據(jù)還包括來自芝麻信用(Sesame Credit)的信用評分。芝麻信用是阿里巴巴(Alibaba)關(guān)聯(lián)公司螞蟻金服(Ant Financial)旗下的機(jī)構(gòu),在用戶同意的情況下向銀行和消費(fèi)貸款機(jī)構(gòu)出售信用評分?jǐn)?shù)據(jù)。
Loan apps are also supplementing loan income by selling data legally after users agree to expansive terms and conditions.
貸款app也通過合法銷售數(shù)據(jù)(在用戶同意了雜七雜八的條款及條件之后)來補(bǔ)充貸款收入。
Terms and conditions for Qudian, Ppdai, and Yongqianbao, three major lending apps, grant the companies permission to “provide” data to third parties — a term legal experts say includes selling the data. In addition to online consumer lending groups, which lend from their own capital, peer-to-peer lenders including Nasdaq-listed Hexindai also operate on similar terms.
三大貸款app——趣店、拍拍貸和用錢寶(Yongqianbao)——的條款及條件授權(quán)這些公司向第三方“提供”數(shù)據(jù);法律專家稱,這一條包括出售數(shù)據(jù)。除了通過自有資金放貸的在線消費(fèi)貸款集團(tuán)外,P2P貸款機(jī)構(gòu)——包括在納斯達(dá)克(Nasdaq)上市的和信貸(Hexindai)——也采用類似條款。
The apps are unusable unless the user both accepts the terms and conditions and authorises his mobile operating system to grant the app access to contacts, location, stored files and other data.
除非用戶接受這些條款及條件,并授權(quán)自己的手機(jī)操作系統(tǒng)允許app訪問聯(lián)系人、地理位置、存儲文件和其他數(shù)據(jù),否則用不了這些app。
Qudian on Wednesday said it had never sold or rented out user data. The company said it had launched an internal investigation in response to reports of a data leak, that it had not discovered any leak so far but that the investigation was ongoing. Ppdai, Yongqianbao and Hexindai did not respond to requests for comment.
趣店周三表示,其從未出售或出租用戶數(shù)據(jù)。該公司表示,針對數(shù)據(jù)泄露的報(bào)道,已啟動一項(xiàng)內(nèi)部調(diào)查,迄今未發(fā)現(xiàn)有任何泄露,但調(diào)查仍在進(jìn)行。拍拍貸、用錢寶以及和信貸沒有回應(yīng)記者的置評請求。
Analysts say many buyers of user data are other consumer lending platforms hoping to jump-start their own business by identifying potential customers who have borrowed from others. Platforms where users have registered but never taken a loan may also choose to pass user information to a competitor.
分析師們表示,用戶數(shù)據(jù)的許多買家是其他消費(fèi)貸款平臺,他們希望識別曾經(jīng)從其他平臺借款的潛在客戶,盡快打開自己的業(yè)務(wù)。用戶作了登記、但從未借款的平臺,也可能選擇將用戶信息賣給競爭對手。
“Consumer lending platforms are definitely involved in buying and selling data, and it’s hard to stop,” said Xue Hangyan, director of the Suning Financial Research Institute, a division of electronics retailer Suning Holdings. “Everyone faces the problem of acquiring customers and wants data that can help them with precision sales and marketing, so the demand for user data is very large.”
“消費(fèi)貸款平臺肯定參與了數(shù)據(jù)買賣,很難制止這種做法,”電器零售商蘇寧控股(Suning Holdings)旗下蘇寧金融研究院的互聯(lián)網(wǎng)金融中心主任薛洪言表示。“大家都面臨著獲取客戶的問題,希望獲得有助于他們進(jìn)行精準(zhǔn)銷售和營銷的數(shù)據(jù),因此對用戶數(shù)據(jù)的需求非常大。”
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