Songpa-gu 'Internet Bangyeokdan' Spreads Nationwide

Unnecessary Movement Information of COVID-19 Confirmed Cases... 1,000 Cases Identified in 2 Weeks, 72% Deleted... Majority of Deletion Requests from Confirmed Cases and Their Families

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Songpa-gu (Mayor Park Seong-su) has pioneered the ‘Songpa-gu Internet Quarantine Team,’ which is now being expanded nationwide under government leadership.

The district announced on the 11th that the ‘Songpa-gu Internet Quarantine Team,’ launched on May 21, has been recognized for its necessity by the government and many local governments, and has been adopted as an official project by the Korea Communications Commission and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety, leading to its nationwide implementation.

The ‘Songpa-gu Internet Quarantine Team (Quarantine Team)’ conducts activities to find and delete publicly disclosed confirmed patient information on online platforms such as the district office website and SNS to prevent the local spread of COVID-19.

As of June 10, the Quarantine Team has identified a total of 1,000 movement information cases, including 47 reports received through the reporting center over about two weeks, and has successfully deleted approximately 720 cases, about 72% of the total.

According to the district, a significant number of deletion requests received by the center were from the confirmed patients themselves or their families. The first requester was a minor child whose privacy was excessively harmed due to the disclosure of movement information.

Other reasons included suspicion of acquaintances’ privacy due to detailed movement disclosures and personal insults through comments.

Accordingly, the district analyzed that deleting movement information meaningfully helps restore the emotional well-being of confirmed patients and expects that its nationwide expansion will have a positive impact on overcoming the COVID-19 crisis.

Inquiries for benchmarking have continued nationwide. About 20 cities, counties, and districts, including Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, Incheon Metropolitan City, Busan Metropolitan City, Ulsan Metropolitan City, Geoje City in Gyeongnam, and Jeju Island, have received operational guidance. Among them, Yongin City is currently operating under the name ‘Internet Keeper’ in full scale.

Going forward, the ‘Songpa-gu Internet Quarantine Team’ will be fully implemented nationwide in connection with the Ministry of the Interior and Safety’s ‘Hope Job Project,’ the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), and the Korea Internet & Security Agency (KISA).

On the 10th, Prime Minister Chung Sye-kyun announced at the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasure Headquarters meeting a policy to delete unnecessary movement information of confirmed patients. On the same day, the KCC and KISA announced detailed plans to further strengthen the detection and deletion of confirmed patients’ movement information.

Additionally, on May 28, Minister Jin Young of the Ministry of the Interior and Safety introduced the activities of the ‘Songpa-gu Internet Quarantine Team’ as a model case for COVID-19 response at the ‘2nd Central-Local Policy Council’ and announced plans for nationwide expansion as of June 1.

Mayor Park Seong-su stated, “The ultimate goal of the Songpa-gu Internet Quarantine Team is the voluntary participation of administrators who post content,” adding, “I hope that the Quarantine Team’s activities will spread nationwide so that everyone hurt by COVID-19 can regain hope and quickly return to their daily lives.”

Movement information of COVID-19 confirmed patients (infection routes, travel routes, etc.) is deleted 14 days after the confirmed patient’s last contact with others, according to the guidelines of the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (2nd edition of the COVID-19 confirmed patient movement information disclosure guide).

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.