The Concept of Privacy in the Context of Chinese Law and Culture

One of the most challenging topics in any current discussion of privacy is how to define privacy. On the one hand, the failure to define privacy makes the conceptual basis of these laws unclear, which will inevitably lead to a situation in which privacy cannot be well protected and leads to dispute. On the other hand, the lack of a definition is not necessarily a weakness. It provides flexibility for implementing data privacy laws. It could enable such laws to address the widespread fear associated with increasingly intrusive data-processing practices. Currently, the right to privacy in the PRC is directly and indirectly protected by constitutional law, both private and public law as well as procedural law. Although the Chinese people, as well as the Chinese government’s attitudes toward privacy, have shifted enormously in recent years, legislator apparently leaves more room for the development of new technologies which are nourished by data. One example is that the laws and regulations have defined neither privacy nor the right to privacy in the context of Chinese law. Defining a word is much more difficult than illustrating its use. To leave the regulatory margin open to subsequent changes and developments, the law can first define privacy, avoiding using an exhaustive definition and specifying the range of privacy, and then add the following aspects: In view of the various definitions of privacy published by different bodies and constant technical and scientific developments, the legislature shall adjust and adapt the definition of privacy to technical and scientific progress and to a definition subsequently agreed upon at the international level.