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An Economic Analysis To Right Of Privacy

Posted on:2006-04-15Degree:MasterType:Thesis
Country:ChinaCandidate:T S ZhangFull Text:PDF
GTID:2166360155454396Subject:Legal theory
Abstract/Summary:PDF Full Text Request
With the development of society, the progress of science and technology has offered the great facility for people's life, but it brings some puzzling things to people at the same time. More and more people feel that their individual privacy are suffering unprecedented threat and destruction, which makes it urgent to carry on the research on the question of legal protection of the right of privacy. Among existing studies on right of privacy, most scholars justify the right of privacy from legal philosophy aspect; that is the just problem of the law that pays close attention to justice mainly, not enough to the experience analysis and efficiency of the right of privacy. This article tries to proceed from theory of law and economics, regards legal efficiency as the goal, uses the paradigm of cost–benefit to carry on the economic analysis to right of privacy, and hopes to clarify the economic reason in right of privacy mainly, thus reach the purpose to realize more practical legal protection on right of privacy. The article is composed of four parts. In chapter one, the article defines right of privacy mainly. There is a history of more than one hundred years about law science on right of privacy, but there is no universally acknowledged concept without disputation on right of privacy so far, this is mainly caused by the fact that people use this term of right of privacy in different linguistic contexts. This article argues that privacy is a kind of information in essence. Mails or personal secrets and so on are not personal privacy themselves; it is privacy that the information is recorded and reflected among them. Privacy is the private information that has nothing to do with public interests. Thus the article argues right of privacy refers to the right that individual controls to its private information. This has established the foundation for the economic analysis to right of privacy. But the range of private information is very extensive, how we could effectively dispose rights is the present problem that we face, and it also draw out the question that the follow several parts in this article wants to discuss. In chapter two, the article carries on the economic analysis to right of privacy on the whole. When we are carrying on the economic analysis to right to privacy, efficiency is the aim of the legal system of right of privacy. We know, according to Coase Theorem, because of the existing of transaction costs in the trade, the initial disposition of the right is very important. Using Coase Theorem in the study of right of privacy, we mean the initial disposition of the private information right. This part divides private information into two types, one concerns reputation, and the other divorces from reputation. Posner thinks that the personal information concerning reputation should be refused to protect, because this will result in swindling. This view is undoubtedly correct from the view of information economics. But the reputation has diversified characteristics, if we allow this kind disclosure of personal information, this will cause the owner of private information to make too much input on protecting them, and cause the expenditure of the net social cost; and it will make the social costs of right to privacy exceed the social benefits. Meanwhile, the article uses reputation theory and game theory to analyze and learn that the rational individual will not conceal one's own personal information sedulously for the benefits of the long-term. The article thinks, as far as the privacy concerning reputation is concerned, from consideration of the social total cost,we should give the legal protection to this kind of personal information generally. And for some privacy that may produce more cost to the concrete business relation, we can make the exceptional regulation through different division of the subject role of personal information and permit revealing. And for the privacy divorced from reputation, the article has analyzed from the two respects of cost and benefit, and thinks that we should offer the legal protection to this kind of information. At the same time the article thinks that the law should give personal information with the private information property. This can not only satisfy people's preference for personal information but also carry on the legal protection to right of privacy better, which can form the steady personal information market and reach the equilibrium of the legal system of right of privacy. In chapter three, the article carries on the economic analysis to public person's right of privacy. It is the focus and hot question of public person's right of privacy. Public person refers to the social members with quite high social popularity in society known widely by the people. On the basis of the consideration of public interests, the right to privacy of public person should to be limited, and be permitted to disclose to a certain degree. But the limited reveal should use Kaldor-Hicks' efficiency to examine, that is, the public person minimum demarcation line of right to privacy is the line that revealing public person's private information should produce more social benefits than protecting it that can produce to public person. Meanwhile, on the basis of distinguishing different roles of public person, we should pay the legal protection to the public person's private information that has nothing to do the public interests, thus we can reach the equilibrium of the interests. In addition,...
Keywords/Search Tags:Economic
PDF Full Text Request
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