On the "News Exception" in Personal Information Protection

ZHANG Wenliang & LIU Yuqi

Abstract: Protection of personal information is a significant issue in the construction of legal systems in various countries in the information age. Introducing a balanced approach for protecting personal information is an important goal of basic human rights protection and data legislation. Personal information protection involves comprehensive considerations among various values, and the balanced structure between personal information rights and other rights systems has become the key to legislation on personal information protection. The “news exception” is a prominent example representing the balanced structure of personal information protection. As a societal instrument, news not only pursues commercial value but also advocates freedom of expression and public value. There exists a natural tension between news and personal information protection. The “news exception” of the balanced structure has become a fundamental requirement and important connotation for constructing a system for protecting personal information. The balanced structure of the “news exception” requires a reasonable definition of the concept and purpose of news, and both the self-discipline within the news industry and the judicial intervention are necessary factors. China has preliminarily completed the top-level legislative design of personal information protection through laws such as the Civil Code of the People’s Republic of China (PRC) and the Personal Information Protection Law of the People’s Republic of China. However, the balanced mechanism of the “news exception” has not yet been fully established in China. A “news exception” based on the ideas of balance and the improvement of the institutional system is the fundamental principle for the development of China’s personal information protection system.

Keywords: personal information · news exception · Civil Code of the PRC