The Dilemma And Relief Of Personal Information Protection In Government Information Disclosure

The normative basis of the government information disclosure system is the "Regulations of the People’s Republic of China on Government Information Disclosure and Government Information Disclosure"(hereinafter referred to as the "Government Information Disclosure Regulations").Looking at the full text of the Regulations on Disclosure of Government Information,the rules related to the disclosure of personal information are Article 15.This article stipulates the reasons and conditions for exempting government information from being disclosed,and clearly stipulates that commercial secrets and personal privacy are exceptions to government information disclosure,but it is unclear about personal information being an exception to government information disclosure.According to the provisions of Article 4,Paragraph2 of the "Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China"(hereinafter referred to as the "Personal Information Protection Law"),"processing" includes collection,storage,disclosure,etc.With the development of e-government,the government needs to process citizens’ personal information in the process of implementing social governance,and government information disclosure is one of the connotations of "processing".This means that the disclosure of personal information in government information disclosure should follow the rules for handling personal information in the Personal Information Protection Law.However,the "Personal Information Protection Law" has broad rules on the processing of personal information by state agencies and cannot provide specific guidance for the disclosure of personal information in government information disclosuret.It can be seen that the normative basis for the disclosure of personal information in government information disclosure is vague and needs to be clarified.In addition,the "Regulations on the Disclosure of Government Information" as a lower-level law and the "Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China" as a higher-level law have different protection systems for personal privacy and personal information,and there are differences in specific rules,resulting in differences in the basis for government information disclosure involving personal information.Specification conflict.In practice,the real dilemma of personal information protection in government information disclosure has become increasingly prominent.Administrative agencies leaked personal information when performing government information disclosure duties,and vacillated when judging government information disclosure involving personal information,which led to a large number of disputes.The judiciary adopts different adjudication standards in resolving the abovementioned disputes.The normative dilemma and practical dilemma lead to insufficient protection of personal information and damage the rights and interests of citizens’ personal information.Therefore,the problem of insufficient protection of personal information in government information disclosure needs to be resolved urgently.The above predicament may be alleviated through the following two models,namely the unary model in which personal privacy and personal information are combined,and the dual model in which personal privacy and personal information are separated.Due to the double separation of personal privacy and personal information from norms and reality,the unified model of personal privacy or the unified model of personal information cannot realize the thorough protection of personal privacy and personal information.It can be seen that the unified model has limitations in alleviating the above dilemma.Personal information has unique public attributes,and reasonable use of personal information can create public value,which is completely different from the privacy of personal privacy.Therefore,it is the right time to construct a dual model of separation of personal privacy and personal information in the government information disclosure system.First of all,it is legitimate and feasible to add personal information as an exception to government information disclosure.From the perspective of protecting human rights,the rights and interests of personal information are the basic rights of citizens,which shows that individuals have the right to decide whether personal information is disclosed and the scope of disclosure,and the same should be true in the government information disclosure system.Adding personal information as an exception to government information disclosure means building a dual model of separation of personal privacy and personal information in the government information disclosure system,which is consistent with the current law on the protection of personal privacy and personal information.Secondly,government information disclosure adopts a differentiated protection method for personal information,dividing personal information into personal private information and personal general information.Personal private information is delineated to be protected within the scope of personal privacy,and it is clarified that the disclosure of government information should be at a minimum without compromising personal dignity.If it will cause damage to personal dignity,administrative agencies should not disclose it.The disclosure of government information involving private personal information requires the separate consent of a third party before it can be disclosed.Personal general information is designated as protected within the scope of personal information,and the possibility of contacting specific individuals should be cut off when the government information related to personal general information is disclosed.The "scenario-based" analysis method is introduced to identify the subject,identification purpose,identification cost and other elements.The analysis avoids the identification of individuals and ensures the security of personal information.Finally,administrative agencies should do a good job of weighing public interests in accordance with the principle of proportionality,follow the principle of differentiated treatment,and at the same time,post the third party consent procedure to better play the supervisory role of the procedure and realize the reasonable disclosure of personal information in government information.