Let more and more people realize that even if there is no victim to investigate, the procuratorial organ can initiate public interest litigation to make the crime pay its due price
Many families may have experienced this experience. Within a few days after giving birth, they received sales calls for various baby products or services. Behind the "coincidence" is the disclosure of personal information.
According to media reports, Hangzhou recently sentenced a related case. Li was sentenced by the court to two years and ten months in prison and fined 300000 yuan for committing the crime of infringing on citizens' personal information. Later, Hangzhou Xiaoshan Procuratorate filed a public interest lawsuit, and Li and the heads of two children's photography agencies were ordered by the court to publicly apologize to the public and pay more than 290000 yuan in public interest damages.
It can be said that the disclosure of personal information has become a commonplace problem. Many people can't stand it, but they are at a loss to defend their own rights. Not only do they have to pay a lot of time and energy costs, but they may also not find the infringement object. This case in Hangzhou is a case where the police received a clue that a photography agency was suspected of purchasing and using the personal information of newborns. After the follow-up investigation, the suspect was identified: from the second half of 2020 to February 2022, Mr. Li purchased more than 30000 pieces of personal information of newborns in many places through illegal channels, involving Shandong, Zhejiang, Anhui and other places.
Reviewing this case, there are at least two levels of positive significance. One is to warn the society that it is not only illegal to sell personal information, but also to bear civil liability when buying other people's private information. In order to expand their business, the principals of the two photography agencies may purchase information more frequently in reality, and the general public may not be aware of the legal risks involved. Although it seems "understandable" from the perspective of business development, these purchase demands objectively lead to the criminal act of stealing personal information, which should be punished naturally. Therefore, this legal accountability has a certain legal significance.
Second, in addition to the fine, all three people who bought and sold information were required to apologize to the public and pay public welfare damages. In the case of personal information transaction, because the victims are widely distributed, the damage to a single victim may not be great, so the motivation and possibility of the victims' recovery are not great. This is also one of the reasons for the weak governance of such illegal phenomena before. However, the Personal Information Protection Law, implemented in 2021, specifically sets up provisions on public interest litigation, which explicitly includes personal information protection into the statutory field of public interest litigation.
In recent years, public interest litigation cases involving infringement of citizens' personal information have begun to appear in many parts of the country. The criminal act of infringing citizens' personal information, which is judged to publicly apologize and pay public welfare damages, has gradually become a "standard configuration". This has greatly increased the cost of crime, making more and more people realize that even if there is no victim to investigate, the procuratorial organ can initiate public interest litigation to make the crime pay its due price. so to speak, The introduction of public interest litigation has dredged the legal channels for the management of personal information reselling, and also strengthened the deterrent force.
Another more important aspect of the governance of personal information reselling is the attack and governance at the source. What is regrettable about the Hangzhou case is that it was not disclosed or traced to the source. Li, who resells information to two photography agencies, seems to be just a "middleman", rather than the source of leaking information. Who in which institutions can master a large amount of newborn information? It is more likely to be hospitals or other public institutions. only The fundamental solution to reduce the reselling of personal information is to increase the investigation and punishment at the source and block the management loopholes where personal information is leaked.
Shouyi, a special commentator of Red Star News
Edited by Wang Yintao
Red Star Comment Submission Email: hxpl2020@qq.com
