| Information openness is a new administration development trend after WWâ…¡. The Decree on Government Information Openness of People's Republic of China, which came into effect on May 1, 2008, plays an important role in safeguarding citizens'rights to know, increasing transparency of government, and ensuring justice and democracy of administration. The Decree stipulates, in particular, that citizens possess certain right to information concerning personal privacy which is enjoyed by the government, and that personal privacy be protected to some extend. However, conflicts often arise between the right to know and the right of privacy when governments release information to the public. A lawsuit filed by a Mr. Wang against Beijing Changping District Bureau of Civil Affairs for violating his privacy, cited in this paper, focuses right on the issue whether the government's information openness violates personal privacy, with analysis on the nature of marriage registration files and that of the agreement granted by the Civil Affairs Bureau to the lawyer to inquire about the personal marriage information. This case reflects the conflict between a citizen's right of knowing the public information and personal right of private information among the government's information. The case provoked the author to ponder the issue of how to coordinate the two rights when it comes to the government's open information. In the second part, the paper elaborates on the meaning of right of being informed and right of privacy from the constitutional point of view, and on the significance of protecting both the rights. Besides, the US practice of protecting and coordinating the two rights is briefed, for the information publicity system in the US is relatively complete, which ensures both of the two rights. Next, how China's information publicity system coordinates the two rights is put forward. In the last part, the author's personal opinion about the case is brought forward. |
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