Applying Privacy as Trust in the Emerging Digital Welfare State

「信任」作為數位福利國之隱私和資料治理基礎

隨著因大數據、人工智慧的興起，相關技術逐步應用於社會福利決策領域，數位福利國在此背景下應運而生。本文以2020年荷蘭首次從基本權利觀點對於數位福利國隱私和資料治理進行司法審查的SyRI案和2022年臺灣憲法法庭的健保資料庫案為比較分析案例，兩者皆從基本權利觀點出發，作為其司法審查基礎與切點。透過兩則案例分析，凸顯此取徑過於著重消極抵禦侵害面向，而忽略以創造福祉的面向，思考隱私與資料的治理和管制，以及在數位福利國中既存的資訊不對稱關係。本文主張應以「信任」作為數位福利國的隱私和資料治理基礎，並在此基礎上建立資料信任模式，透過獨立監督機制進行事前風險評估，藉此作為在數位福利國創造資料治理福祉最大化和試圖消弭資訊不對稱的可能解方。

With the emergence of the digital welfare state, social protection and assistance are increasingly driven by digital big data, artificial intelligence, and related technologies. The implementation of a conventional rights-based framework within the context of the digital welfare state involves examining the interaction between the state and its citizens from a human rights perspective. This approach emphasizes the importance of individual autonomy and the ability to make choices while adhering to the principles of accountability, non-discrimination, and equality.
The analysis of the 2020 Dutch SyRI case is the beginning of a rights-based judicial review in the digital welfare state in the Netherlands. Coincidentally, the Taiwanese Constitutional Court’s recent 2022 judgment of the Taiwan National Insurance Health Database case relates to just these kinds of privacy concerns. Although the constitutional system and political structure of the Netherlands and Taiwan are quite different, both the Dutch SyRI case and the Taiwan NIHD approached the issue of privacy from the traditional, rights-based perspectives, highlighting the problems of focusing on invasion rather than creating values and existing asymmetrical information relationships.
This paper aims to contribute by incorporating the concept of trust as a fundamental privacy value into the context of information relationships within the digital welfare state. It advocates for the introduction of a public trust model as well as the establishment of an independent supervision mechanism to carry out ex-ante risk assessments. This mechanism serves as an empowering tool to foster the creation of values and to address the information asymmetry that exists between individuals and the government in the digital welfare state.