Research on the Defects and Perfection of the Criminal Law Protection of Chinese Citizens’ Personal Information Rights

With the rapid development of technology, humanity has entered the era of big data. Big data technology can accurately identify users’ daily needs and push content that interests them. However, while enjoying this convenience, the issue of information leakage has also emerged. Some criminals steal personal information and use it as a tool for illegal profit. As a result, citizens’ personal information is virtually exposed to the public, leading to an influx of spam messages and harassing phone calls. This not only disrupts people’s lives but also poses a serious threat to their personal and financial security. Therefore, it is urgently necessary to use criminal law to regulate crimes that infringe upon citizens’ personal information. To address the shortcomings in China’s criminal law regarding personal information protection, this study proposes several suggestions, such as replacing “citizens’ personal information” with “personal information”, establishing the public nature of legal interests, and adding new forms of criminal behavior. The goal of this paper is to enable criminal law to play its role fully in protecting personal information.