Research on distribution of responsibility for de-identification policy of personal information

With the coming of the age of big data, efforts to institutionalize de-identification of personal information to protect privacy but also at the same time, to allow the use of personal information, have been actively carried out and already, many countries are in the stage of implementing and establishing de-identification policies quite actively. But even with such efforts to protect and use personal information at the same time, the danger posed by re- identification based on de-identified information is real enough to warrant serious consideration for a management mechanism of such risks as well as a mechanism for distributing the responsibilities and liabilities that follow these risks in the event of accidents and incidents involving the invasion of privacy. So far, most countries implementing the de-identification policies are focusing on defining what de-identification is and the exemption requirements to allow free use of de-identified personal information; in fact, it seems that there is a lack of discussion and consideration on how to distribute the responsibility of the risks and liabilities involved in the process of de-identification of personal information. This study proposes to take a look at the various de-identification policies worldwide and contemplate on these policies in the perspective of risk-liability theory. Also, the constituencies of the de-identification policies will be identified in order to analyze the roles and responsibilities of each of these constituencies thereby providing the theoretical basis on which to initiate the discussions on the distribution of burden and responsibilities arising from the de-identification policies.