新酒入旧瓶:企业数据保护的商业秘密路径

New Wine in Old Bottles:The Approach of Protecting Enterprise Data as Trade Secrets

商业秘密制度在企业数据产权保护中扮演着核心角色,却没有引起决策者和学术界的充分重视。企业收集的与经营活动有关的数据集合,通常都落入商业秘密法上的“经营信息”范围。即便数据条目为单纯的文学艺术作品,也不妨碍该数据集合整体上被视为企业的“经营信息”,从而构成商业秘密法的保护客体。在判断数据集合的秘密性时,应区分数据条目与数据集合。数据条目来源于公共领域,并不妨碍数据集合整体上具有秘密性。网络平台通过前台向公众提供的数据集合条目,使得数据条目本身失去秘密性。不过,网络平台后台存储的受访问密码等有效保密措施控制的数据集合整体或其实质部分,依然满足“秘密性”的要求。公众破坏该后台保密措施直接获取该数据集合整体内容,将构成商业秘密侵权。沿着这一解释思路,大多数企业数据集合都能在商业秘密保护法的框架下得到有效保护。在商业秘密保护法之外,类似日本那样进行“限定提供数据”的平行立法,叠床架屋,没有必要;不区分公开数据与秘密数据的统一数据产权立法,也缺乏可行性。企业数据产权保护更合理的选择是回到现有的商业秘密保护法加可能的公开数据特殊保护立法的思路。

The system of trade secrets plays a central role in protecting enterprise datasets,but it has not attracted sufficient attention from Chinese policymakers and the academia.datasets related to business activities collected by enterprises usually fall within the scope of"operational information"under the trade secret law.Even if the data entries are purely literary or artistic works,there is no barrier to regarding the entire datasets as a whole as"operational information"of an enterprise,thus constituting the object protected under the trade secret law.When assessing the confidentiality of datasets,it is necessary to distinguish data entries from the datasets as a whole.The fact that data entries are originated from the public domain does not necessarily deny the overall confidentiality of the datasets as a whole.While an online platform provides entries of datasets to the public through front-end interfaces,the data entries themselves lose secrecy.However,the entire datasets or their substantial parts stored in the back end of the platform secured by passwords and other effective security measures,still meets the requirement of confidentiality.If someone destroys the back-end security measures to directly obtain the whole content of such datasets,it will constitute an infringement upon the trade secret.Following this approach of interpretation,most enterprise datasets can be effectively protected within the framework of trade secret law.Beyond the trade secret law,the parallel legislation on"shared data with limited access"like that in Japan is redundant and enjoys no necessity;The unified legislation on property right of data without distinguishing public data from confidential data also lacks feasibility.A more reasonable choice for protecting the property right of enterprise data is returning to the approach of existing trade secret law and possible special legislation on public data.