"Who is in charge of my message?" What happened after the incident?

Beijing, December 31, 2021 (Reporter Ding Huayan) On November 1, 2021, the Personal Information Protection Law was officially implemented, which is a landmark law in the history of Personal Information Protection in China. Voice of the Economy specially curated "Who Is In Charge of My Information?" "On the 31st, the sixth part was launched: What happened after the death?

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In today's rapidly changing artificial intelligence technology, with personal information data, the myth of "resurrection" like Nezha also has the possibility of illuminating reality. For example, Microsoft used the information left by the deceased to make an AI chatbot, which is the same as the "lotus root".

In fact, the personal information and online accounts of the deceased not only have humanistic commemorative significance, but also may contain some economic rights and interests, and there is also the problem of legal inheritance. How to protect the personal information of the deceased, not only respect the wishes of the individual before death, but also protect the interests of relatives?

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If you leave this world, what personal information would you like to leave behind for your loved ones?

In the face of this somewhat cruel problem, Ms. Zhao, a citizen of Shandong, first thought of the balance in Alipay, WeChat and other accounts, and she believed that relatives should inherit: "This money is our own, it should belong to the family, and it cannot be given to the Internet (company) for free!" ”

Gamer Mr. Wang worries that it would be a pity if he spent a lot of time, energy and money to accumulate virtual property such as game currency and game equipment if it could not be inherited by relatives. "Since I have spent money to buy equipment and created gold coins, I definitely don't want to drift away, and I definitely hope that there will be people after me."

Mr. Li, a Weibo and WeChat user, hopes that the personal imprint he has left in cyberspace can be left as a memorial for his relatives. "The video, photos and other information in the circle of friends, WeChat and other online accounts carry a lot of memories, and I hope that my family will inherit it in the future."

Before the implementation of the Personal Information Protection Law, China's laws and regulations did not provide for the protection of the rights and interests of personal information after the death of natural persons. Therefore, there is often a link between the regrets of the real world and the consummation of the mythical world. Because not all network operation platforms can open up the channels for the personal information of deceased people to their relatives after the death of a user like Taiyi Zhenren.

Fortunately, the Personal Information Protection Law fills the legislative gap! This law stipulates that the close relatives of the deceased may exercise the right to access, copy, correct, delete and other rights to the personal information of the deceased for their own legitimate and legitimate interests, unless otherwise arranged by the deceased before his death.

Pan Helin, executive dean and professor of the Digital Economy Research Institute of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, believes that the Personal Information Protection Law extends the protection of personal information subjects from before death to death, providing more perfect protection. "First, when personal information is generated, it has its end, and this legislation promotes the whole life cycle management system of personal information, so that information management has a beginning and an end, throughout the entire life cycle." Second, the legislation protects the rights and interests of information owners, if the information is a rights and interests, then there is a problem of inheritance of rights and interests, to prevent the information of the deceased from becoming a public good, to prevent the information of the deceased from being abused, all have positive significance. ”

With the popularity of digital payment and the enrichment of recharge and additional services in social platforms, the online accounts of the deceased may also contain a part of the economic rights and interests in addition to the significance of human commemoration. According to the statistics of the China Will Bank, virtual property such as Alipay, WeChat, QQ, and game accounts is a common type of property in the wills of the post-80s and post-90s. And how they achieve kinship inheritance has become the focus of attention.

Experts pointed out that an entity based on the rights and interests enjoyed by the digital account can be divided into two parts: property rights and identity rights, such as: the balance in the accounts of the deceased, such as Alipay, WeChat and so on is the property rights. Dong Qi, a lawyer at Shandong Chenggong Law Firm, believes that they should be inherited by relatives. "The balance in accounts such as Alipay and WeChat is similar to the balance of a bank account. Strictly speaking, it is part of movable property, and when it comes to inheritance and distribution, it is similar to processing your deposits. ”

The inheritance of virtual property such as game currency and game equipment has been recognized in judicial practice. Qu Tianming, an associate professor at the Law School of Qingdao University of Science and Technology, said: "The Q coins that the public has bought at a certain cost have property, and it has liquidity, for example, the equipment obtained through online games can be transferred again." We call this kind of (property) virtual property, which has been recognized in relevant judicial trial practice. ”

However, network accounts also contain identity rights, and their inheritance problems are more complicated. Under normal circumstances, when a user applies to register a social, payment, game and other online accounts, it is necessary to sign a "User Agreement" with the online platform. According to the logic of most agreements, the user only has the ownership of the content, balance, etc. in the account, and only has the "right to use" the "account" itself, and cannot be donated, borrowed, transferred, inherited, etc. This means that relatives can inherit balances and information, but not accounts. A payment platform customer service staff replied: "The account does not support inheritance, but if there is money in the account, provide the corresponding documents, Alipay can help (relatives) to dispose of the funds." ”

The property of the payment account can be transferred out, so how to deal with social accounts that carry a lot of personal information? Pan and Lin pointed out that at present, Platforms such as WeChat and Weibo actually do not allow users to transfer accounts. "Because the account is generated by the real-name system, and the death of a natural person means that the increase in the content of the account is no longer possible, and there is no possibility of account transfer, but the account can be stored permanently according to the user's requirements." However, it should be noted that at present, major platforms lack channel entrances for user relatives to handle relevant account business. You need to activate relevant functions or deal with related issues through the after-sales platform. ”

The unblocked disposal channel for personal information is a common problem. A survey of the top 30 free apps on the Apple App Store found that only about 20 percent mentioned the rights of the deceased's close relatives in their privacy policies, clearly informing them of the materials and communication channels required to exercise their rights. Relevant enterprises shall respond in a timely manner in accordance with the requirements of laws and regulations such as the Personal Information Protection Law.

Of course, not everyone wants their personal information such as accounts, photos, videos, and memos to be inherited. It is also common for people not to want to "die in society" again after their death because of secret exposure. Fortunately, the Personal Information Protection Law has set aside restrictions on the exercise of relatives' rights: "Unless otherwise arranged before the deceased's death." ”

Pan and Lin believe that in the future, "there are other arrangements for the deceased before death" is likely to become a regular arrangement, "just like we have to make a will before we die, and make personal information arrangements before we die." "This is the meaning of respecting the deceased, and the information will become an important part of the will in the future, and the deceased can designate his own information processor."

After the fact, in advance, will be the best choice for personal information protection in the Internet era!