Allocating Personal Data Rights: Toward Resolving Conflicts of Interest over Personal Data

Conflicts of interest over personal data arise from the variety of legal subjects involved and the value of personal data in today’s information society.This article attempts to resolve such conflicts of interest by examining the possibility of allocating data rights which balance competing interests.It suggests that the allocation of personal data rights should follow certain rules to ensure that the interests of relevant data subjects are protected.By examining the reasons for conflicts of interest over personal data,as well as the subjects and substance of such conflicts,the article puts forward an appropriate approach for allocating personal data rights by balancing the interests of different data subjects.For source data subjects,personal data rights are allocated,to protect personal information and data property interests;for data controllers,data property rights are allocated to protect their data property interests when they make data valuable,meanwhile liabilities are allocated to data controller,in case of infringing on other subjects'interests;for data supervisors(mostly the government),allocating the right to protect or make use of data on behalf of public interests and the power of supervising data use industry;for the data users,they are allocated data property rights with the consents of source data subjects and data controllers when make use of data.

Legal Coordination of Conflicts of Interests among Stakeholders in the Processing of Personal Data

The processing of personal data involves various stakeholders,such as natural persons,personal data processors,and supervisors.These stakeholders process or supervise personal data based on their respective interests or duties.However,because several interests are involved,conflicts may occur due to the value of the data in question.This paper builds a theoretical framework based on the methodology of interest measurement to alleviate conflicts of interest concerning data.It explores,from the perspectives of rights,obligations,and liabilities,the supervisors’duty of protecting the public interest.Regarding personal data of natural persons,corresponding rights are allocated according to the relevant provisions of the Civil Code and the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China.For personal data processors in superior positions,obligations and liabilities are allocated according to the relevant provisions of the above laws,and in light of the core of reasonable restrictions on individual standards against society’s standards,the duties of supervisors and protection of public interests are clearly defined.