South Korean digital privacy and security regulation

South Korea is intensifying its regulatory and legal efforts to enhance digital security, data privacy, and the combatting of online crimes.

New enforcement decrees allow for punitive fines of up to 10% of total revenue for companies responsible for large-scale personal information leaks caused by gross negligence. To encourage compliance, the Personal Information Protection Commission offers fine reductions for proactive security investments. Additionally, the Korea Communications Commission has introduced measures to fine service providers that fail to prevent illegal spam.

In parallel, authorities are targeting digital sex crimes and protecting victim privacy. Police arrested two individuals for operating 23 illegal websites hosting approximately 110,000 illicit adult videos. Furthermore, the government is reviewing the legal responsibilities of Google after a data leak exposed the personal information of digital sex crime victims who had requested content deletion. Google attributed the incident to an ‘unintended database sharing error’ and has worked with authorities to remove the exposed data.