Finally, it seems that the first light of dawn in a quieter world has been shown to people who have been continuously bombarded by anonymous messages or phone calls via mobile and other communication channels for private tutoring, apartment sales, and insurance.
On the 25th of August 2008, the 4th Conference of the Standing Committee of the 11th National People’s Congress (NPC) deliberated on The 7th Amendment to the PRC Criminal Law (draft). The Draft is the first time a proposal for providing protection of personal information by imposing criminal charges for violations on such information was put forward. This has raised broad public attention at all levels.
Li Yongmei, associate, Domestic Dispute Resolution
The current legal protections for personal information appear loosely in various laws including the Constitution and other Civil and Criminal Laws. The protections are presented in the forms of certain individual articles in the varying pieces of legislation. These provisions mainly protect a citizen’s right to communications freedom, communications security and privacy in general and do not cover basic personal information such as personal address, phone numbers, etc.
Furthermore, the current applications of these articles are limited. Take for example the “crime of infringing upon a citizen’s right to freedom of correspondence” provided for in the Criminal Law, Article 252, which provides not only the true intent of the law (the right to freedom of correspondence), the target of crime (the letters) but also requires “the circumstance is serious” as the standard of conviction. It is not easy for these provisions to be adapted to the developments of the information age as writing physical letters has declined.
In deliberating the Draft, a strong message that the constitutional principle of “respect for and insuring Human Rights” will also be embodied in the field of personal information protection, and such protection will mark an important step for respecting personal liberty and dignity.
Even more exciting is that the legislative process for the Personal Information Protection Law, started in 2005, is now entering a new phase. The Personal Information Protection Law (Draft) has been submitted to the State Council for discussion. We are now looking forward to success during the deliberation as well as the release of the Personal Information protection Law in the near future. This will help create a comprehensive system for the protection of personal information and provide effective legal safeguards to right of privacy.
个人信息法律保护的新发展
那些为一对一辅导、售楼信息、不厌其烦的保险代理骚扰的人们终于看见了喧嚣世界突然安静下来的曙光。
8月25日，十一届全国人民代表大会常务委员会第四次会议对《中华人民共和国刑法修正案（七）（草稿）》进行初审。该草案首次提出对公民个人信息进行刑法保护，引发了社会各界的广泛关注。
现行法律对个人信息的保护主要散落在宪法、刑法、民商事法律等领域，以单行法中个别条款的方式表现。这些条款以保护公民通信自由及通信秘密、隐私权为主，未涵盖基本的个人信息，例如住址及电话等，且保护条件较为严苛。以现行刑法中的“侵犯通信自由罪”为例，该罪不仅规定了特殊的犯罪客体和犯罪对象，还以“情节严重”为定罪起点。仅依靠这些条款的保护力度显然落后于信息时代的发展要求。
《刑法修正案（七）（草稿）》的审议无疑发出了一个强烈的信号，即随着社会进步，尊重和保障人权的宪法原则在个人信息保护领域得以具体化，体现了法律和社会对个人自由和尊严的尊重。
更为可喜的是，2005年启动的个人信息保护法立法程序现已进入新阶段。《个人信息保护法（草案）》已呈交国务院讨论。我们期待着《刑法修正案（七）》能够顺利通过审议，更进一步期待《个人信息保护法》尽早出台。从而形成较为完善的中国个人信息保护法律体系，使公民解脱“透明人”的担忧，公民个人隐私、尊严及安全得到切实有效的法律保障。
李咏梅, 国内诉讼仲裁组