Professor Sun Xianzhong interviewed by People's Weekly: why do we need a personal information protection law

Source: iolaw.cssn.cn | 2021-08-02  Author: 5 (2021) People's Weekly.

 

"The legislation on the protection of personal information not only protects the interests relating to the personal information of natural persons, but also establishes legal norms for various activities of legally obtaining and using natural persons’ information in a modern information society, so as to realize state governance in the most cutting-edge fieldsof a modern society.” On the morning of March 11, 2021, Professor Sun Xianzhong, a deputy to the National People’s Congress, a member of the Constitution and Law Committee of the National People’s Congress, and a member of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, emphasized the significance of personal information protection in an exclusive interview by People’s Weekly.

In the interview, Professor Sun shared his view on the personal information protection law, and elaborated on his thoughts on the relevant legislative proposals he made during the “two sessions” this year: "When formulating the personal information protection law, it is necessary to realize thedifferences between the information protection in the modern information society and the normal collection and use of personal information in the past,take the collection of personal information that are common today as the core link of the legislation onpersonal information protection, and focus on solving the problem of excessive, compulsory, and illegal collection of information; whoever possesses and keeps a piece of personal information should assume the responsibility for protecting such information; personal information should be used in a standardized way and protected; the sale of personal information should be prohibited; and preventionshould be taken as the basic starting point of information protection." "In the process of personal information security legislation, the core issue is information collection; the secondimportant issue is the improper safekeeping or even illegally use of information after it is collected."

Professor Sun said that, in establishing the legislative foundation of the personal information protection law, there is a key link that many people have ignored. "The personal information mentioned in the Civil Code is the information of a single natural person (you, me, him), but the collection, control and utilization of the group information of an unspecified large number of peopleis a new problem that have emerged under the conditions of informatization. The use of personal information to send advertisements and fraudulent information is aimed at group information. In this situation, the considerations of the person information protection laware different from those of the Civil Code. It is where the problem consciousness of the personal information protection law lies.""Most importantly, we must face up to the progressive significance of the information society. Exaggerating the problem of personal information leakage will cause panic and anxiety among the public, leading them to think that the collection of personal information will inevitably result in the exposure of privacy. This is a kind of irresponsible view."

A good law is like a good medicine, which can cure chronic diseases that need to be solved urgently. Sun Xianzhong believes in the power of time: "We must raise our problem awareness and improve legislative accuracy".

 

Source: 5 (2021) People's Weekly.