Delivery apps in China pledge to protect user information by hiding their phone numbers
State media asks Meituan and Ele.me why they can’t fix the problem
Very soon, the drivers of China’s two biggest food delivery app operators won’t be able to see the phone numbers of customers who placed orders.
It’s part of Meituan Dianping and Ele.me’s separate efforts to improve user data privacy. Now delivery drivers are only shown proxy phone numbers generated by telecoms carriers, can only contact customers through the apps’ messaging function, and the addresses of customers are hidden after orders are completed.
The report said tens of thousands of stolen names, phone numbers and home addresses were bought by marketing firms. Some users on microblog site Sina Weibo have also complained that they were harassed by delivery drivers via phone calls or text messages.
