The advent of the big data era has rendered the collection, storage, processing, and utilization of personal information increasingly commonplace, while simultaneously posing unprecedented challenges to the protection of personal information. Against ...
The advent of the big data era has rendered the collection, storage, processing, and utilization of personal information increasingly commonplace, while simultaneously posing unprecedented challenges to the protection of personal information. Against this backdrop, this dissertation undertakes a systematic examination of the theoretical and institutional issues surrounding the civil law protection of personal information, with the aim of exploring directions for the improvement of China's civil law framework.
This dissertation first reviews the research background and significance of the civil law protection of personal information. It analyzes the current state of research and the relevant literature both at home and abroad, thereby clarifying the research methods employed and the innovative contributions of the study. Proceeding from the conceptual definition and the civil law attributes of the right to personal information, it then examines the connotation of the right, the boundaries of its constituent powers, and its distinctions from the right to privacy and property rights. On this basis, it constructs a system of rights to personal information encompassing the right to know, the right to control, the right to deletion and rectification, and the right to data portability.
Subsequently, this dissertation reviews the current status of the civil law protection of personal information in China, setting forth the basic structure and the evolutionary path of the legislative system. It further analyzes the dilemmas confronting such protection, namely: (i) theoretical divergences concerning the attributes and definition of the right; (ii) the fragmentation of the rule system; (iii) the ambiguity of the liability system; (iv) the regulatory lag induced by technological evolution; and (v) the institutional challenges arising from cross-border data flows and platform governance.
Furthermore, through a comparative analysis of the personal information protection regimes of the European Union, the United States, South Korea, Japan, and other jurisdictions, this dissertation proposes measures for improving China's civil law system for the protection of personal information. In particular, it emphasizes: (i) refining the system of data subject rights under the protection of personality rights; (ii) improving the multi-tiered legal basis and the hierarchical system of corporate compliance obligations; (iii) optimizing dispute resolution channels and establishing an independent regulatory system; and (iv) promoting the linkage and dynamic coordination between the Civil Code and departmental laws.
Finally, this dissertation summarizes its principal findings and proposes directions for future research. These include: (i) the systematization of emerging powers and the evolution of rights paradigms; (ii) the multi-scenario verification of the effectiveness of institutional implementation; (iii) the establishment of cross-jurisdictional linkages and docking mechanisms with international data governance; (iv) the collaborative standardization of technological empowerment and soft law governance; and (v) the cultivation of a public culture of data rights together with the continued exploration of mechanisms for social co-governance.