Why The Constitution Should Protect Personal Credit Information?——An Approach of Right Argumentation

Protecting personal credit information through constitutional rights is not only essemtial for individuals to defend against infringements on their personal credit information rights and interests by public power in the social credit system,but also a requirement for unified legislation on social credit to explore the basis for constitutional norms.In the era of the credit economy,personal credit information has become a vital resource for realizing personal autonomy.Along with the increase in the state’s supervision and control of personal credit,the realization of the autonomous value in the interests related to personal credit information has also set more obligations for the state.Therefore,interests related to personal credit information should be regarded as a constitutional right.Because of its significant economic interest and value,the right to personal credit information should be classified as a constitutional property right.As a constitutional property right,the right to personal credit information can not only help protect people’s economic interests,but also achieve the goal of safeguarding their personality interests.

The Bundle of Personal Information Rights from the Perspective of State Protection

The bundle of personal information rights refers to a set of rights belonging to the subject of personal information,including the right to know,decide,inquire,correct,copy,delete,etc.Such a bundle of rights is usually understood in Chinese civil rights legal circles as a civil right falling under the paradigm of individual autonomy and control,and is interpreted as a specific right to personal information.This understanding somewhat misinterprets the nature and function of the bundle of personal information rights.In terms of its nature,the bundle of personal information rights is the outcome of the state’s obligation to actively protect and empower individuals through institutional safeguards,and is thus essentially a means and a tool of protection granted to individuals by the state under the concept of protective law.In terms of its function,the bundle of personal information rights is both a tool enabling individuals to check and counterbalance processors of information and a strategy for the state to regulate data processors.Understanding the nature and functions of the bundle of rights from the perspective of state protection and regulation strategies helps to construct a fairer,more transparent and rational order of public law data governance under the concept of protective law and promotes the structural optimization and capacity enhancement of the data governance system.As an instrumental right under the state’s regulatory strategy,the implementation of the bundle of personal information rights needs to focus on facilitating the individual’s knowledge,participation and ability to negotiate under procedural justice,as well as the reasonable allocation of rights and obligations between individuals and information processors under distributive justice,with a view to continuously developing and enhancing the state’s regulatory rationality.

Information Privacy Protection in the New Chinese Civil Code:Priority or Replacement?

The right to privacy has been developed through judicial practice and has evolved from"the protection of the right to reputation" to"privacy interest"then to"privacy right." The Civil Code of the People's Republic of China(2020)clarifies the right to information privacy and the right to personal information as two independent personality rights and establishes a privacy priority protection mechanism for private information in civil law.The comparative efficiency of the right to personal information may mean that the protection of the right to information privacy is weakened or even replaced by the right to personal information.The uncertainty and fragmentation of private information also creates a wide gray space for judicial decisions.The development from traditional privacy right to information privacy right and personal information right is generally positive and shows the active legal response to the protection of private information in multiple ways.However,clarifications and systematization are required to increase the effectiveness of such protections.