Personal data trusts in China: a balance between data sharing and privacy protection

Abstract Compared with the traditional data protection models, data trusts can achieve long-term management of digital assets and promote the effective distribution of data rights. As for personal data trusts in China, the concept of data usufructuary rights can be introduced and combined with the tripartite allocation of data rights to explain the rationality of data trusts. In terms of the construction of China’s data trusts, a bottom-up model of data trusts should be adopted under government supervision; meanwhile, personal data should be divided into private data and public data for separate management.