Shanghai consumer rights group sues Samsung and Oppo over pre-installed apps

Samsung and Oppo are facing lawsuits filed by the Shanghai Consumer Rights Protection Commission. The watchdog group claims both companies pre-install apps on their smartphones without telling consumers ahead of time

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The lawsuits stated that the commission looked at 20 different smartphones, and found that a number of them had apps pre-installed, many of which could not be removed. It noted that one of them, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, had 44 pre-installed apps, while another device, the Oppo Find 7a, had a whopping 71 apps installed.

Shanghai Today quotes Tao Ailian, the secretary-general of the commission, as stating:

""The litigation is our latest attempt to safeguard consumers' rights after other methods failed," Tao said, without elaborating on what other steps had been taken. "We hope it will force other companies in the sector to end the unreasonable, but common, practice of pre-installing apps without telling consumers. This is something that is very much necessary for the healthy development of the whole industry," he said.

The commission would like the courts in Shanghai to rule that smartphone companies to list which apps have been pre-installed on their devices in the packaging, along with instructions on how to uninstall those apps. Samsung and Oppo have 15 days to offer their defense.

The article notes that, while this is the first time a Shanghai court has heard this kind of case, it is not unheard of. A woman in China filed a lawsuit against Apple in the Futian District People's Court, claiming that pre-installed apps on her iPhone 5 could not be removed and was stealing her data. The court ruled against the woman in 2014, but that case is now under appeal in the Shenzhen Intermediate People's Court

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Source: Shanghai Today