Abstract:

China’s Personal Information Protection Law and Civil Code explicitly recognize “reasonable processing” as a statutory ground for exemption from liability. However， current judicial practice in adjudicating the crime of “Infringement of Citizens’ Personal Information” under Criminal Law often fails to adequately consider the reasonableness of the conduct， leading to dilemmas concerning the unclear normative positioning of this element and the absence of clear assessment criteria. To accurately determine criminal liability， this paper argues for clarifying the normative position and dual role of “reasonable processing” within the assessment of illegality， and for elucidating the legal interest balancing mechanism when “reasonable processing” leads to non-conviction. The evaluation of “reasonable processing” must ensure systematic consistency between the criminal law and pre-existing laws. Specifically， the normative element “in violation of relevant state regulations” should be interpreted as “expressly prohibited by pre-existing laws” rather than “not authorized by pre-existing laws”. Furthermore， the scope of “relevant state regulations” herein should be strictly confined to laws and administrative regulations. In terms of specific rules， the object of legal benefit balancing in the “reasonableness” assessment is the composite legal interest of personal information； the standard for such balancing should refer to the hierarchy of fundamental rights established by the constitution and the statutory sentencing ranges of specific offenses in the Criminal Law； the method of balancing should involve a comprehensive evaluation conducted within the framework of the theory of communicative action and the principle of proportionality.

Key words: personal information, reasonable processing, legal interest evaluation