Study On The Legal Obligations Of Personal Information Anonymizers

With the popularization of computers and the arrival of the data era,not only static information but also people's daily behaviors are recorded in an all-round way.Personal information has become a kind of resource,and the high-speed flow of information is unstoppable.Accompanied by this is a large area of personal information leakage.According to the "APP personal information leakage investigation report" released by the Chinese consumer association on August 29,2018,the number of people whose personal information has been leaked accounts for 85.2% of the total number of people under investigation.Personal information security has become a concern of the general public.In order to give consideration to both information security and information flow,anonymous technology emerged.Anonymous information refers to the information processed by the anonymous technology.According to article 26 of the EU ‘general data protection regulation',anonymous information refers to the information that is not related to the identified or identifiable natural person.Anonymous information is the product of information technology.However,information technology is not a perfect thing,which may be cracked.So far,people have found that the process of anonymization is not irreversible,and anonymous information can be recognized again.Anonymization alone cannot solve the problem of personal information security once and for all.But the protection of personal information and the realization of information flow are indispensable.Therefore,human beings must carry out many times of repeated measurement to choose a path that can realize both personal information protection and information circulation.This path is anonymous information,which can not only prevent the leakage of personal information to a large extent through anonymization technology,but also enable the information to be used to the maximum extent.In other words,it is the best way to keep the anonymous information in the balance of the technical flaw and the technical value of the anonymous information.However,this does not mean that the omission of anonymous information can be ignored.On the contrary,if anonymous information is to be recognized by legislators,it is necessary to make up for the omission.As for specific measures,one of the effective solutions to the problem of anonymous information being re-identified is to impose legal obligations on personal information anonymizers,which is proved by Ulpian and Kant's theory of the origin of duty that is do no harm to others.The legal obligation of the anonymous information producer refers to the behavior mode that should be adopted by the anonymous,the obligation to do or not to do,and the reason for taking legal responsibility for deviating from the behavior mode.To be specific,from the perspective of types of obligations,the legal obligations of personal information anonymizers are statutory obligations,general obligations,relative obligations and legal obligation to act.From the perspective of personal information anonymizers,the legal obligations of personal information anonymizers include the obligation to ensure the compliance with the standard of anonymous information,the obligation of safekeeping,the obligation of review,the obligation of recording and the obligation of notification.From the perspective of civil liability,the personal information anonymizers is liable only when he fails to fulfill its obligations due to subjective fault and causing substantial damage.There are non-monetary forms of responsibility and monetary forms of responsibility.Among them,the non-monetary forms of responsibility include removal of obstruction,elimination of danger,apology,elimination of influence and restoration of reputation.Responsibility in the form of money means to take responsibility in the form of paying money.In order to protect the legitimate rights and interests of information subjects and promote personal information anonymizers to fulfill their obligations,it is better to introduce punitive damages system to fulfill the personal information anonymizers' responsibilities.The exemption from liability of the personal information anonymizers includes the victim's intention,the third party's reason,force majeure,justifiable defense and emergency avoidance,etc.