Social Sciences in China (Chinese Edition)

No. 4, 2023

The Design of Personal Data Ownership Division as Drifting Resource

(Abstract)

Xia Zhiqiang and Yan Xingyu

In the era of big data, the coordination of data security and data utilization has made privacy computing a common operation facilitating the anonymization of personal information. This process results in “personal data” because its anonymity strips away individual identifiability. At the same time as it resolves the “data islet” problem, privacy computing also forms a “data archipelago” predicament which cripples data sharing and data market development. Eradicating this predicament requires clarification of personal data ownership (PDO). PDO merits further research, since current practice and legislation either confuse it with ownership of personal information or fail to mention it. In the data flow chain, personal data exhibit the characteristics of a drifting resource, including multidimensionality, zero-permission flow, and nested reproduction, with implications of public resource endowment, collective personality interests and open property interests. Rightfully, personal data should be publicly owned by the entire society and its ownership distribution should adopt the two-way approach of the separation of “state trusteeship-social utilization.”“State trusteeship” refers to the state’s powers and functions based on the requirements of public interests and the necessity of national governance and emergency management, such as unannounced inspection rights, algorithm sharing rights, and access and utilization rights. “Social utilization” should start by establishing a two-level usufruct system and be realized through localization, openness based on joint construction, and mandatory openness.