(Yicai Global) Aug. 10 -- China’s Industrial Bank has moved to assuage concerns among users that its mobile app is gathering too much personal information on them, The Paper reported yesterday.

Some consumers recently reported to the Shanghai Consumer Council that Industrial Bank’s app monitors the user’s heart rate and the number of steps users take. The bank said the app can monitor steps, but only with users’ authorization, and said it does not monitor their heart rate.

The app offers a brisk walking activity for customers as a way to promote a healthy and low-carbon lifestyle, Industrial Bank said. It records the number of steps using a sensor in the mobile phone, and provides participants with certain rewards based on their number of steps.

But authorization is required and the app does not do this by default, the bank emphasized. A tooltip will pop up asking for relevant permission when a user wants to participate in brisk walking activity and starts collecting information only after getting the user’s consent, the bank said.

Consumers can block the authorization manually and this does not affect the online financial services of the app, the Shanghai Consumer Council noted. It also said Fuzhou-based Industrial Bank should clearly inform consumers about the purpose of collecting data about their health, or it could lead to concerns.

Apps that collect and use personal information must have a clear and reasonable purpose, the consumer watchdog said, adding that the apps should strictly follow the principle of only collecting the necessary minimum amount of data, and should not collect information without user authorization.

Editor: Tom Litting