The Research On Personal Information Protection In Private Law

Personal information can be recorded and processed and directed to a specific person.Personal information carries both spiritual and property values which is different with privacy.With the development of technology,personal information is used increasingly.At the same time,the infringement of personal information is increasing and the personality of natural persons is seriously threatened.Therefore,the protection of personal information in private law should be strengthened.The article 111 of General Principles of Civil Law in 2017 has a clear legal basis for the personal information protection in private law.However,according to the provision,the right attribute of personal information is still vague and it lacks of legal consequences.In judicial practice,personal information indirect protection is not enough,the principle of tort liability is single,the damage of infringement is difficult to determine and the penalty is not enough.By drawing on the experience of US and Europe on the protection of personal information in private laws,the article puts forward the suggestions to strengthening personal information protection in private law.To improve the personal information protection in private law,the right to personal information should be conferred to natural persons.General Principles of Civil Law has the legal basis for personal information protection in private law and Personal Right in Civil Code should establish the right to personal information which is defined as the right of personality as well as following the nature of property.The right to personal information is a framework-based right to comprehensively protection all kinds of personal interests in the form of information and its objects of the rights include individual autonomy,identity interests and equal interests,not the personal information.At addiction,the provision of the right to personal information in Personality Right in Civil Code should conform to General Principles of Civil Law.To improve the personal information protection in private law,we should put the focus on establishing the system of tort liability and contract liability of personal information.On the one hand,the principle of presumed-default and fault should be applied respectively according to the information processed automatically or not.The behavior of personal information infringement listed in General Principle in Civil Law should be extended.The judge should attach importance to the monetary penalty,fully consider the infringement behavior,the scope and extent of effects and alleviate the standard of elements like “serious mental damage” and “actual damage”.On the other hand,the principle of no-fault should be clarified in the contract liability of personal information.We should attach importance to damage penalty,recognizing mental damages and punitive damages restricted in cases of subjective malice and insufficient relief.