The Dilemma And Solution Of Commercial Exploitation Of Personal Information

This Article develops the five critical elements of a model for propertized personalinformation that would help fashion a market that would respect individual privacy and helpmaintain a democratic order. These five elements are: limitations on an individual’s right toalienate personal information; default rules that force disclosure of the terms of trade; a right of exitfor participants in the market; the establishment of damages to deter marker abuses; and institutionsto police the personal information market and punish privacy violations.Part I firstly explores two arguments which are moral right and property right that have beenmade in opposition to trade in personal information. These critique views data trade as problematicbecause complete propertization of personal information prevents any imposition of restrictions onone’s ability to trade in personal information. Inspected our current legislation and judicial status,and then pointed out that the ambiguity of boundaries between legal and illegal is the majordifficulties faced by the judicial practice.In Part II, the analysis focuses on two notoriously slippery terms—property and informationprivacy. Can the personal information become property right? Whether the commercialization ofpersonal information violates personal privacy? In a network environment, that how to controlpersonal information under ensuring the free flow of information is the key point.Part III, this Article develops the five critical elements of a model of propertized personalinformation: inalienabilities, defaults, rights of exit, damages, and institutions. This model ofpropertized personal information involves the development of a hybrid inalienability consisting ofa use-transfer restriction plus an opt-in default. Moreover, this ability to block will generally be setas an opt-in, which means that further use or transfer will not be allowed unless the individualaffirmatively agrees to it.Part IV, to play the legislative norms，industry self-regulation and technological measuresthree complementary to each other effect, and give the comprehensive protection of privacy andproperty rights, it should be the basic principles of information legislation. According to the fivecritical elements of a model of propertized personal information, combined with Chinese situation, it provided a possibility suggested that for the legislators to develop a balance between privacy andsocial realistic needs of personal information.