Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 4, 2023

 

On Data Property Rights as a New Type of Property Right

(Abstract)

 

Zhang Xinbao

 

The developmental history of property rights has shown that the expansion of the object of property rights is determined by the development of productivity and the morphological expansion of production and living resources, with the effectiveness and protection methods of property rights being determined by the nature of their object. With the advent of the information age and the rise of the digital economy, China needs to establish various forms of data rights at the level of national policy, legislation and the judicature. Theoretically, data property rights should be established as a third type of property right with the nature of jura in rem, with the other two types being property rights and intellectual property rights. Data property rights should not adopt the protection models for non-established rights or personal information rights. Moreover, they should not be seen as a new form of the usufruct right of existing property rights. Setting up a system of data property rights is an essential measure to protect the fruits of data processors’ legitimate labors. The central government’s view of data resources classification and data rights separation serves as guidance for data rights establishment; the principles of labor value theory have laid the theoretical foundation; and the theory of “separation of personal and property rights” provides the institutional arrangements for solving the difficult problems of data rights. As data-based rights enjoyed by civil subjects, data property rights have the basic attributes of property, jura in rem, limited disposition and limited exclusivity. The rights holder enjoys various rights including utilization, benefit, possession, and disposal.