On Legal Regulations Of Electronic Eyes In Public Places From The Pespective Of Privacy Protection

Electronic eyes in public places discussed in this essay is limited to the electronic eyes installed by public authorities in public places.With the continuous advancement of "Safe City" construction,electronic eyes system has become a key construction project of the government as an effective means of maintaining social order.China has built the world's largest video surveillance network called "China Skynet".In order to maintain urban public security,China has installed electronic eyes at public places such as traffic corridors and checkpoints.Many electronic eyes systems are very intelligent.With identification system,they can accurately identify information such as human faces,vehicles,and license plate numbers.On the one hand,surveillance activities have the legitimacy of maintaining public safety.On the other hand,they may also violate citizens' right to privacy.However,due to the late application of electronic eyes system in China,there are very few studies on the legal regulation of it.Both the legislation and theory lag behind practice.In view of the fact that the United Kingdom and United States entered the surveillance society earlier than China,their monitoring theory research is relatively mature,and the relevant legal regulations are also relatively advanced.Their experience can provide some reference for China.In addition to the introduction and conclusion,this essay is divided into four chapters.The first chapter will introduce several basic concepts involved in this topic,including the definition of public places,public electronic eyes system,and the right to privacy,laying thefoundation for the following discussion.The second chapter will discuss the conflict and balance between public power and individual's privacy right under public electronic eyes.This chapter will summarize five types of infringements that break through the boundary:(1)improper installation of surveillance equipment in public places;(2)the installation not publicly and clearly marked;(3)improper disclosure or leakage of surveillance information;(4)improper identification of personally identifiable information;(5)data integration to obtain personal private information.To resolve this conflict,the method of interest measurement should be applied.Public interests should be prioritized,but public power should also be restricted by the principles of legal authority,administrative justification,and proportionality.The third chapter will summarize the current legal protection of public electronic eyes system in China and its deficiencies.Then it will introduce the experience from the United Kingdom and the United States.The focus of UK's regulation had shifted from the theory of reasonable privacy expectations to the protection of personal information.With data protection at its core,the UK follows the provisions of the Data Protection Act and sets up the Information Commissioner's Office to regulate the collection and use of personal information under video surveillance.The core of USA's regulation is to safeguard the basic constitutional rights of citizens threatened by the government.The United States establishes the constitutional right to privacy,which gives individual the right to privacy directly against public authorities.It has not yet formulated an uniform legislation on public electronic eyes system,but has issued The Public Video Surveillance Guide,which has laid down a basic protection framework for public electronic eyes system.The fourth chapter will discuss the perfection on legal regulations of electronic eyes in public places from the perspective of privacy protection in China,that is to improve public law protection of information privacy,and to strengthen the protection of privacy in the guidance documents of electronic monitoring in public places.