The balance between data protection and utilization inspired by the concept of data trust
Yang Fan
(School of Law, Tsinghua University, Beijing 100084, China)
Abstract： Data trust, as a global breakthrough technology, has attracted much attention. The concepts of "information trustee" and "data trust" respectively adjust the unequal status between data subjects and data controllers from the perspectives of obligations and rights. Exploring the inspiration of data trust for solving existing problems in data protection and utilization can provide principled guidance for both the overall introduction of data trust concepts and the filling of existing systems. In terms of data protection, data trusts suggest adding obligations to existing legal obligations for data controllers and reducing the difficulty of relief through procedural design such as inverted burden of proof. In terms of data utilization, data trusts support the dual structure of "ownershipusufruct" to determine property ownership, while also containing separate allocation of income rights. The dual trust structure distinguishes different stages of data circulation and utilization, providing flexibility for data utilization through collective governance. The trust theory also emphasizes the participation and even dominance of data subjects in the distribution of data returns, inspiring the improvement of the status of data subjects in existing income distribution issues.
Key words : data trust; trust property; data utilization; personal data
