Web of charity(2)

Transparency vs privacy

"We want to be honest to the public online as we are more than thankful for their help. But sometimes we just want some privacy," Zhao Fang said.

After Zhao's family started to receive donations, the family had to reveal not only the details of the hospital bills online but also the details of their personal lives, such as how much they were spending on lunch or what kind of clothes they wear.

Sina staff said they tried to protect the privacy of the recipients by hiding their phone numbers or home addresses. But the platform cannot deal with Web users' requests for more details.

"We have to do that, otherwise some people would start to call us liars and bother those famous verified Weibo users who reposted Li's comments," Zhao Fang told the Global Times.

Deng said the public required that information because they wanted to verify the program, which also reflected the fact that the public lacks trust in the charity industry in China.

"In order to rebuild trust in charity programs after scandals within recent years, charity groups and the platforms have to ensure transparency. But this doesn't mean the privacy of the recipients isn't important," Deng said.

Xu Bing, a staff member of Shilehui, a donation platform affiliated with the Jinhua Charity Federation in Zhejiang Province, said that donation recipients are required to reveal information about their families for public scrutiny. "Compared with the potential to receive help, I don't think the recipients should care that much about their privacy," Xu said.

Controversial problems

As with almost all charity organizations in China, controversy has never been far away from the public's consciousness.

Shilehui was criticized after giving volunteers a cut of up to 15 percent of the money donated in 2012. In 2011, some subscribers to the Alipay service discovered some money had been transferred from their accounts to charity foundations without their consent.

Deng believes that online charity platforms need to solve the problems of online payment safety and improve their management.

Chinese law states that the civil affairs departments, Red Cross societies and charitable foundations attached to the government can collect charitable donations from the public, but it doesn't mention whether individuals or other non-government organizations are permitted to establish their own fundraising projects.

"Online charity is still a grey area in legislation in China, which brings difficulties to the management and supervision of online charities," Shi Changkui, a charity expert and vice director of the management research center of the Beijing Academy of Social Sciences, told the Global Times.