The Research On The Application Of Punitive Damages In Personal Information Infringement

Information has huge commercial value in the information society.Driven by high profit,personal information is vulnerable to vicious infringement in links of being collected,disseminated and processed.The resulting secondary hazards and new types of damage seriously threaten information subjects’ dignity and safety,and profoundly affect the social order and economy’s development.The development of society depends on the Internet and emerging technologies,and the protection of personal information involves private law and public law,requiring the coordinate operations of both fields.But the protection faces severe challenges,for there is a lag in the existing legislation.Based on the functional advantages of punitive damages,it’s meaningful to study how to apply it in the field of personal information in our country.Chapter One,"Personal Information Infringement and Punitive Damages".Personal information is a collection of interests that need legal protection.It should be guarded in the form of personality rights.The specialties of the infringement in personal information are reflected in its concealment and latency;the damage of the infringement is not only difficult to quantify,but also shows a large-scale trend.It has a high risk of causing serious secondary harm,and the new types of damage are difficult to confirmed and saved.The lack of legislative protection has resulted in insufficient private law remedies: the infringements are difficult to prevent;victims are passive in defending their rights;damages cannot be adequately remedied.Due to the passive protection,insufficient punishment and limited public resources investment,public law’s regulation of personal information infringement is also limited.Based on this,punitive damages,with their functional advantages of effectively punishing and deterring infringements,encouraging the victims to actively protect their rights,fully compensating for damages,and efficient private law enforcement has become a way out of the plight of personal information infringement relief.Chapter Two,"Extraterritorial Application of Punitive Damages in Personal Information Infringement: Taking the United States as an Example ".When the protection is facing great challenges,punitive damages are widely used in the field of information in the United States.In view of the different legal traditions,environments and social reality,there are differences in the provisions and compensation ratios for punitive damages in different fields and states.The following enlightenment can be drawn from it: First,the application should be based on the subjective psychological state of high condemnation.Second,the actual damage result should not be the prerequisite,which can prevent the rules of punitive damages from being emptied.Third,there should have clear calculation standards for the amounts.Fourth,the application should be analyzed on case-by-case basis,considering multiple factors,and weighing the liability of the infringer and the relief received by the victim,to achieve the fundamental purpose of the application.Chapter Three,"Issues Involved in the Application of Punitive Damages in our country’s Personal Information Infringement".When punitive damages system was introduced in our country,it faced doubts and disputes.In order to further explore the application of punitive damage in the field of personal information,some questions should be confirmed.Firstly,the academic community has actually recognized the functions of punitive damages.Based on the practical value,actual function and realization mechanism,punitive damages can be applied as civil liability in the field of personal information.Secondly,in our country’s existing legislation,the scope of application is showing a trend of expanding.It is plausible to include personal information infringement into the scope.Thirdly,punitive damages and compensation for mental damages are two completely different damage compensation systems.According to the satisfaction of specific requirements,both systems can be applied separately or simultaneously.Chapter Four,"The Application of Punitive Damages in Personal Information Infringement".Based on national conditions and the extraterritorial experience of judicial practice,the application of punitive damages in personal information should take intentional and gross negligence as necessary conditions for the liability.And the damage should be an important reference factor for determining the compensation.It is more reasonable to use the multiple method to calculate the amounts of penalties.Combined the actual damage standard,the illegal profits standard and the minimum limited standard,the number we need can avoid the situation that cannot be calculated;and the determination of the multiple should base on the principle of equivalent penalties and effective containment,with reference to the reprehensible factors and deterrent factors,analyze infringement indifferent conditions,ensuring that the function of punitive damages can be fully exerted,achieving the fundamental purpose of applying it.In this article,the innovation is to systematically analyze the application of punitive damages for personal information infringement,and take the United States as an example to sort out and summarize relevant applications out of the territory,giving us certain references in how to apply the system.Because of limited research capacity and practical experience,the author has not comprehensively combed the extraterritorial law.The research on the application of punitive damages in personal information infringement is not thorough enough.