Govern privacy leaks, data abuse and other chaos-
Personal Information Protection Law defends your information security
Economic Daily·China Economic Net reporter Zhang Xue
The draft personal information protection law is finally "revealed."
The draft establishes personal information processing rules with "information-consent" as the core, that is, personal information processing should be fully informed in advance to obtain personal consent, and the individual has the right to withdraw consent; no personal disapproval is allowed to refuse to provide Product or service.
In addition, the draft imposes strict legal responsibilities for illegal handling of personal information. One of the highlights is the increase in illegal costs, which can be fined less than 50 million yuan or less than 5% of the previous year's turnover.
Not long ago, a piece of news about "Professor of Tsinghua University rejected the access control of face recognition in the community" caused heated discussions, and also focused people's attention on the topic of personal information protection.
With the in-depth integration of informatization and economic society, people are increasingly enjoying the conveniences brought about by informatization, but they must also face major or minor worries caused by personal information leakage.
For this reason, the call for a special law on the protection of personal information is unceasing.
At the 22nd meeting of the Standing Committee of the 13th National People's Congress that opened on October 13, the draft personal information protection law was finally "revealed."
Relevant experts said that the formulation of the draft will form a more complete system for personal information protection and provide stronger legal protection.
Come out after a thousand calls
The latest data shows that as of June 2020, the number of Internet users in my country has reached 940 million, equivalent to one-fifth of the global Internet users, an increase of 36.25 million from March 2020.
The number of websites is 4.68 million, and the number of apps monitored on the domestic market is 3.59 million.
The collection and use of personal information is more extensive.
In recent years, although the protection of personal information in our country has been increasing, in real life, some companies, institutions and even individuals, for the purpose of commercial interests, randomly collect, illegally acquire, overuse, illegally buy and sell personal information, and use personal information. Intrusion into the peace of the people and endangering the lives and health of the people and the safety of their property are very prominent.
Relevant industry experts believe that my country's personal information protection legal system has been gradually established, but it is still difficult to adapt to the rapid development of informatization.
Therefore, special laws should be formulated and promulgated on the basis of existing laws to enhance the system, pertinence, and operability of legal norms.
Zhou Hanhua, a researcher at the Institute of Law of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, analyzed that on the one hand, the problem of unprotected personal information in real life is becoming more and more prominent; on the other hand, with the advent of the information age, the digital economy is developing rapidly, and information is a resource. How to properly handle the relationship between the protection of personal information and the development of the digital economy requires constant balance in the legislative process.
Zhou Hanhua believes that the formulation of the Personal Information Protection Law has gone through a relatively long period of time, and it can be described as "beginning with endless calls."
The longer time period has also facilitated a better understanding of the personal information protection issues that have arisen during the rapid development of informatization. The appearance of the draft law can now be described as "a matter of course".
Protect the right of individuals to know and make decisions
What is personal information?
This draft law clarifies that personal information is a variety of information related to identified or identifiable natural persons recorded electronically or by other means, and does not include anonymized information.
The processing of personal information includes the collection, storage, use, processing, transmission, provision, and disclosure of personal information.
Zhou Hanhua said that this concept is relatively broad, because with the advent of the era of big data, personal information is easy to identify, and a relatively broad definition is conducive to including various situations and better protecting personal information.
The draft establishes personal information processing rules with "information-consent" as the core, that is: personal consent should be obtained with full notice in advance when handling personal information, and the individual has the right to withdraw consent; important matters should be re-obtained if changes occur Personal consent; not to refuse to provide products or services on the grounds of personal disagreement.
Zhang Tao, director of Beijing Huaxun Law Firm, said that the notification in the "inform-consent" rule must fully protect the right to know the relevant individual subjects. Consent is to protect the right to make independent decisions about information. These two rights can be protected. Fundamentally guarantee the safety of personal information.
In addition, the draft also has a special section to strictly restrict the processing of sensitive personal information. Sensitive personal information can only be processed when it has a specific purpose and sufficient necessity, and individual consent or written consent should be obtained.
Zhang Tao said that sensitive personal information includes race, ethnicity, religious beliefs, personal biological characteristics, medical health, financial accounts, personal whereabouts and other information. From its definition, it can be seen that once it is leaked or used illegally, it may lead to personal discrimination or Personal and property safety has been seriously endangered.
"Sensitive personal information has a major stake in everyone. The establishment of a special section can not only show that the legislature attaches great importance to this issue, but it can also specifically restrict and manage related issues in a more targeted manner to protect personal information. Build a strong fortress." Zhang Tao said.
Solve problems such as big data killing
Search for a product on the Internet, and then continue to receive advertisements for similar products...In our lives, we have encountered similar problems.
In this regard, the draft stipulates that for commercial marketing and information push through automated decision-making methods, options that are not specific to their personal characteristics should be provided at the same time.
Zhou Hanhua said: “Customized services are a characteristic of the era of big data, and a challenge that arises is that big data is abused and may cause problems such as'big data'. The provision of'automated decision-making' is to solve related question."
In addition, the draft also clarifies that individuals who believe that automated decision-making has a significant impact on their rights and interests have the right to request personal information processors to explain, and have the right to refuse personal information processors to make decisions only through automated decision-making.
Zhang Tao believes that these regulations mean that attention has been paid to solving the problem of "information cocoon rooms". "The negative problems that may arise in the use of data and information are being regulated through legislation. The platform cannot only push personalized information and advertisements to users. , Otherwise the user has the right to refuse".
The draft stipulates that the installation of image collection and personal identification equipment in public places should be necessary to maintain public safety, comply with relevant state regulations, and set up prominent reminders.
The collected personal images and personal identification information can only be used for the purpose of maintaining public safety, and may not be disclosed or provided to others.
Zhou Hanhua believes that this provision can be seen as a highlight of the entire draft.
"Currently, there is a risk of information leakage in the'ubiquitous' face recognition, video surveillance and other systems. Once relevant information is leaked and abused, it may threaten the personal, property and public safety of individuals. It can be seen from the draft that this This issue has already received the attention of the legislature." Zhou Hanhua said.
Zhang Tao said that the installation and use of monitoring or other personal information identification equipment in public places is not only related to public safety, but also related to the information security of the general population, so it is necessary to regulate it.
Improve the crackdown on illegal activities
The draft sets strict legal responsibilities for illegal handling of personal information.
Zhou Hanhua said: “A small infringement to everyone will cause big problems in the whole society. Therefore, we must increase the intensity of cracking down on illegal activities. How to increase the cost of illegal activities and implement the content of the law is A major difficulty in drafting the draft."
It can be seen that the specific provisions on legal responsibilities made in this draft include: if personal information is handled in violation of the provisions of this law, or the necessary security protection measures are not taken in the handling of personal information in accordance with the regulations, the department performing personal information protection duties shall order corrections. Confiscated illegal gains and give a warning; if they refuse to make corrections, a fine of less than 1 million yuan shall be imposed; the directly responsible persons in charge and other directly responsible persons shall be fined between 10,000 yuan and 100,000 yuan.
If the circumstances of the above-mentioned violations are serious, the department performing personal information protection duties shall order corrections, confiscate the illegal gains, and impose a fine of less than 50 million yuan or less than 5% of the previous year’s turnover, and may be ordered to suspend related businesses and suspend business for rectification. , Notify the relevant competent authority to revoke the relevant business license or revoke the business license.
Zhou Hanhua believes that the provision of "imposing a fine of less than 50 million yuan or less than 5% of the previous year's turnover" is a bright spot. Fines based on the percentage of turnover can increase the law's deterrence against related enterprises' illegal activities.
Zhang Xue