Daejeon City Changes COVID-19 Case Information Disclosure Scope... Excludes Age and Residence to Protect Privacy

Provided by Daejeon City

[Asia Economy (Daejeon) Reporter Jeong Il-woong] Daejeon City is changing the scope of information disclosure regarding confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus infection (COVID-19) within the region. This means reducing excessive concerns about personal information infringement and disclosing information only within the necessary scope to achieve the purpose of infectious disease prevention.

The city announced on the 15th that it will change and operate the method of disclosing COVID-19 confirmed case information going forward.

Until now, the city prioritized citizens' right to know by disclosing the movement paths of confirmed cases related to COVID-19 information disclosure.

However, concerns have been raised that this could excessively infringe on the personal information of confirmed cases, and reflecting recent amendments to the Infectious Disease Prevention and Control Act and guidelines from the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, the city explained that it will change the method of information disclosure.

The changes will be applied and implemented starting from the 19th of this month, when the homepage system is established. The main point of the changed information disclosure is to shift from a confirmed case-centered approach (disclosure by confirmed case number) to disclosing only a unified list of places according to the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency’s standard form, without linking to confirmed case information.

For example, from the time of the change, information previously disclosed such as the confirmed case’s age, residence, contact with previous confirmed cases, and mask-wearing status will be excluded.

Also, all places within the scope of disclosure will be published in list form including ▲region ▲type of place ▲business name ▲detailed address ▲exposure date and time ▲disinfection status, but if all contacts within the space are identified, the information will be switched to non-disclosure.

Meanwhile, COVID-19 information is disclosed from two days before symptom onset until the isolation period, and if no symptoms are confirmed based on epidemiological investigation results, the disclosure period covers from two days before specimen collection until the isolation period.

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