"Public Institutions Can Provide Pseudonymized Data Directly Combined to Third Parties"

PIPC Establishes "Notice on Pseudonymized Data Integration and Export by Public Institutions"

Yoon Jong-in, Chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] In the future, public institutions will be designated as pseudonymized information integration specialized institutions, allowing them to directly integrate the public data they hold and provide it to third parties.

The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on the 2nd that it will implement the "Notice on the Integration and Export of Pseudonymized Information by Public Institutions." Pseudonymized information refers to information processed by deleting or substituting parts of personal information so that individuals cannot be identified without additional information.

The government decided to designate national public or private "integration specialized institutions" to safely integrate pseudonymized information. According to the "Notice on the Integration and Export of Pseudonymized Information," which was enforced on September 1, integration specialized institutions must use other integration specialized institutions when integrating pseudonymized information they hold themselves. However, this notice exempts public institutions from this requirement.

This reflects opinions that additional policies are needed to activate the opening of public data, as public institutions tend to be reluctant to provide data due to the sensitivity of citizens' information.

However, pseudonymized information directly integrated by public integration specialized institutions cannot be used directly by those institutions. Integration can only be performed for the purpose of providing it when a third party applies for integration. Before performing integration, an external expert evaluation must be conducted regarding the application and the level of pseudonymization. Additionally, the Personal Information Protection Commission will strengthen management and supervision throughout the pseudonymized information integration process.

Kang Yu-min, Director of the Personal Information Policy Bureau at the Personal Information Protection Commission, said, "We will safely integrate the information held by public integration specialized institutions to enhance the value of public data utilization."

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