A Study On Protection Of Consumer’s Rights Of Personal Information

With the rapid development of internet and information technology in the recent years, the pattern of consumption has been witnessing a huge revolution that the traditional extensive form of marketing has been gradually obsoleted, instead, the intensive form of marketing which offering personalized service to specific consumer has gained high recognition of the merchants. While the premise of offering personalized service is to obtain the demand of specific consumer, which attaches more importance to the consumer’s personal information, the abuse of consumer’s personal information through internet and information technology has become more and more frequent, which seriously harm the order of the market economy and the legal interest of consumer as well. China started late on legislative protection as well as theoretical research of consumer’s personal information, which led to be backward in legal protection in this field. The newly modified PRC Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law clearly presented the definition of consumer’s personal information for the first time, which broke the former pattern of scattering protection2 and also set a new direction for the protection for the consumer’s personal information.Based on this, this essay is trying to make a research on consumer’s personal information from the perspective of economic law hoping that it can provide some help for the protection of consumer’s personal information in China. This essay is divided into four chapters excepting the Introduction. Firstly, it differentiates and analyzes the definition of the consumer’s personal information and its content and properties on the basis of laws and regulations as well as the relevant theories in this field and values the protection of Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law from the aspects of practical significance and necessity, thus draws the conclusion that the protection of economic law is the optimum choice for the consumer’s personal information and make pertinent suggestions for legislation judicial and abidance of consumer’s personal information according to the analysis of the overseas comparative laws and the current situation of the protection.The first chapter of the essay is the overview of the protection of consumer’s personal information. This chapter, starting with the definition of consumer’s personal information, analyzes its connotation and extension and defines consumer’s personal information as the information related to purchasing or using commodity or accepting service that can directly or indirectly identify the specific consumer. Then concludes the features of these information whose subject is consumer, whose content is identifiable and extensive, and whose character is both with individuality and property, based on which differentiates and analyzes its property weighing the relative theories in this field such as Ownership theory, Personality theory, Privacy theory and Basic Human Rights theory, finally draws the conclusion that consumer’s personal information is a bunch of comprehensive rights including right to know, right to control, right to get security, right to claim, right to supervise and so on. Its property surpasses the range of civil law thus tends to be part of the rights of economic law.The second chapter values the protection of Consumer Rights and Interest Protection Law. We can easily discover that illegal collection, reveal, trade and usage of consumer’s personal information is very rampant in China after carding the main form of expression of the infringement and its influence on both consumers and the development of the market economy. So the protection from Consumer Rights and Interest Protection Law has very important practical significance in guaranteeing the 3legitimate free flow of consumer’s personal information, maintaining market order, boosting consumers’ confidence and flourishing the market. Before the enforcement of the newly modified Consumer Rights and Interest Protection Law, there was no special legislation related to the protection of consumer’s personal information, only provisions about protection of personal information instead scattering in various department laws. After combing and analyzing relevant regulations, we can find that no matter the protection from the Constitution, the Administrative Law, the Criminal Law or the Civil Law, there are always limits existing. To establish the legal system in the horizon of the Economic law can effectively make up the limitations of the other department laws and go straight to the heart of the matters of the protection of the consumer’s personal information, thus resolve both the symptoms and root causes of the infringement.The third chapter concerns with the review and reference of the overseas protection of consumer’s personal information. It studies and refers the advanced systems and methods of the protection from some international groups, other countries and regions. In surveying the related legal system of EU, the essay summarizes its advantages of uniform legislation mode and standard and independent executing agency of personal data protection at same time discover its deficiency in operability, pertinence and balancing the normal flow. In surveying the related legal system of Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, we can find that Guidelines on the Protection of Privacy and Transborder Flows of Personal Data is more scientific and reasonable thus widely acknowledged by various countries in the world though without power of enforcement. In surveying the related legal system of US, the essay concludes the advanced experiences in its legislation, profession autonomy and judiciary in this field, but also discovers the shortcomings of profession autonomy plus scattering legislation in balancing, strength of protection and power of enforcement. In surveying the related legal system of Germany, the essay fully analyses its legislation, supervision, sanction and remedy. Finally, in surveying the related legal system of HONGKONG, the author is enlightened from its commissioner system.The fourth chapter is about the deficiency and improvement of the legal protection of consumer’s personal information in China. Based on the analysis of the current situation of the protection, the essay researches the range, basic principles, administrative supervision, profession autonomy and sanction and remedy of the legal protection in this field, and then put forward the suggestion to improve from aspects such as legislation, administration, judiciary and abidance. Referring to the advanced experiences of overseas countries combining with the national conditions of China, the essay presents the opinion that in the aspect of legislation, China should promote the operability of Consumer Rights and Interests Protection Law and explicate the definition and category of the consumer’s personal information; explicate the basic principles of the protection; add merchant’s rights and obligations related to consumer’s personal information; enrich the manners of liability to enhance the sanction and remedy towards the infringement. In the aspect of administration and judiciary, we should strengthen the national supervision and remedy, explicate the regulator of the protection of consumer’s personal information; and improve the supervision methods as well as the mechanism. In the aspect of abidance, the country should accelerate the cooperation governance by the whole society and enhance consumer the consciousness of self-protection as well as the merchant the consciousness of self-awareness; promote the self-discipline criteria of the whole industry; and strengthen the social supervision from the social groups such as consumers association over the protection of the consumer’s personal information.