[Opinion] Fish in a Fishbowl

Sangwoo Park, Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Korea University

Although many aspects of social life will change significantly due to the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19), demands for changes in individual behavior, such as social distancing and the disclosure of confirmed patients' movement paths, are also coming strongly. During the response to COVID-19, a new term called 'K-quarantine' emerged. K-quarantine is based on the 3Ts (Testing, Tracing, Treatment), and for this system to function properly, an ICT infrastructure must be well established. No matter where you purchase public masks nationwide, your purchase record can be checked at all pharmacies across the country. This system would have been impossible without ICT infrastructure. We truly live in a remarkably transparent society.

However, there is criticism that this increased transparency raises the possibility of privacy and human rights violations. In fact, many people feel most burdened by the disclosure of movement paths when they become confirmed patients during the COVID-19 response process. This reflects a conflict between the efficiency of quarantine measures and the value of personal information protection. Debates on this issue are occurring both domestically and internationally. Although K-quarantine, based on information disclosure, tracing, and rapid diagnosis, may be criticized for privacy infringement, when faced with the staggering number of deaths caused by COVID-19, one cannot help but agree that acceptance of such a system is inevitable. Even the United States, the world's number one country in various sectors such as military power, GDP scale, and scientific technology level, and Italy, a country of style and art that produces luxury goods everyone desires, chose extreme measures such as city lockdowns and movement restrictions in response to the COVID-19 crisis. These were not measures taken to protect individual privacy but rather desperate steps due to a lack of ICT infrastructure.

Now, the transparency of personal life has become a reality that must be accepted whether one likes it or not. Experiencing the COVID-19 crisis, which requires fighting an invisible virus, and the positive evaluations of K-quarantine based on information disclosure and tracing will further accelerate this trend. The ankle bracelets, a location tracking device previously applied only to sex offenders, are now being considered for QR code application to visitors of multi-use facilities, potentially extending similar measures to the general public. Moreover, through communication records with mobile phone base stations, highway Hi-Pass and transportation card usage records, and credit card usage records, every move of mine can already be clearly observed by someone. In such a social environment, the behavioral norms and moral standards of members must also change accordingly.

During my over 35 years of public service, the most serious advice I received was the metaphor of 'a fish in a fishbowl.' It means that public officials are like fish in a fishbowl, fully visible to the public, so they should not even dream of doing anything dishonest and must act cautiously. Now, not only public officials but all citizens have become fish in a fishbowl. The government and the National Assembly must, of course, create thorough safeguards to protect personal privacy so that the fish in the fishbowl do not suffer human rights violations. Along with this, the fish themselves must refine their attitudes to survive in this open and transparent environment. This has become an even more urgent proposition for individuals and organizations holding public office or performing public duties equivalent to such roles, rather than ordinary civilians. Individuals and organizations that are not transparent should no longer exist and have no value to exist. They must not hide behind the long-standing shield of customs and the pretext of noble purposes but properly adapt to the new survival environment called the fishbowl.

Sangwoo Park, Distinguished Professor, Graduate School of Engineering, Korea University

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