Study On The Legal Obligation And Civil Liability Of The Subject Of Anonymization Of Personal Information

The anonymization of personal information can be summarized as the technical processing of personal information,such as concealing,removing and pseudonymizing,which makes it difficult to identify specific individuals and reduces the risk of infringement of personal information rights and interests of natural persons.The legal obligation and civil liability of the subject of anonymization of personal information refers to the obligation that the information controller or the entrusted processor should undertake in order to minimize the privacy risk when anonymizing personal information,and the possible liability when violating the obligation.The research and improvement of the legal obligations and responsibilities of the subject of anonymization of personal information is conducive to further playing an important role in the development of China’s information industry.Throughout the practice at home and abroad,there are still many difficulties to play the maximum effect of anonymization of personal information.On the one hand,the legal standard of anonymity in China is too high.It is very difficult to achieve a perfect level of anonymity in technology.Such a high legal standard is not suitable for the actual situation that anonymous information may be re identified.On the other hand,the laws and regulations on the protection of personal information cannot regulate the anonymous information obtained through anonymity processing,and there is no regulation of other legal provisions,but the fact is that any anonymous information is re identified The residual risk should be regulated by law.In view of the above difficulties,from the perspective of risk-benefit theory,social cost control theory and the consistency of rights and obligations,on the basis of reshaping the legal standards of anonymity in China,it is an effective method to minimize the risk of re identification in the anonymity of personal information by imposing certain legal obligations on the anonymity subject.In the theoretical analysis,it not only embodies the necessity of setting up the legal obligation of the anonymous subject in the aspects of personal information protection,information effective circulation and judicial practice,but also proves the reasonable feasibility of setting up the legal obligation of the anonymous subject of personal information from theperspective of the theory of the cause of setting up the legal obligation-"The Result of Collective Rational Choice",and bears the legal responsibility Main reasons.Because of the conflict of demand preference between the anonymous subject and the personal information subject,the establishment of legal obligation can balance the conflict of preference between them and avoid the same death.On this basis,taking the source of legal obligation "not to infringe on others" as the consensus basis of collective rational choice,it is proved that it is reasonable to endow anonymous subject with corresponding legal obligation.Specifically,on the basis of demonstrating the necessity and feasibility of establishing legal obligations,this paper analyzes the current legislation of legal obligations and responsibilities of anonymous subjects in China.In terms of legal obligations,there are some limitations in the application of liability for breach of contract and liability for tort.In view of the existing problems,it is suggested that the value orientation of the legal obligation and civil liability of anonymization of personal information in China in the future should be the value balance between the protection of personal information and the effective circulation of information on the premise of giving priority to the protection of public interests.The choice of legislation mode should pay attention to the complementary advantages of individual legislation and unified legislation mode,write the connotation,legal standards and legal status of anonymity into the future personal information protection law of China,and issue the mandatory legal effect of “The Personal Information Anonymization Specification” to specifically stipulate the legal obligations of the anonymity subject,so as to achieve the top-level definition,overall connection and specific operation.The content of legal obligation should include anonymity processing obligation,prohibition of re identification obligation,information deletion obligation,disclosure obligation and review obligation.The possible civil liability includes tort liability and breach liability.Tort liability consists of general four elements.The forms of liability include seven other forms of liability in addition to the return of property in Article 15 of The Tort Liability Law of China.The reason of liability for breach of contract when personal information becomes the object of the contract with its property attribute and becomesthe market element,it should be protected in the form of liability in the contract law,and the specific content of the legal obligation of anonymity should be clear with the subject of personal information in the form of contract,that is,written into the user agreement,so it may cause liability for breach of contract.The forms of liability should pay attention to the complementarity between tort and breach of contract,including cessation of breach of contract,elimination of influence,restoration of reputation,apology,compensation for loss etc.