Sejong Government Office Non-regular Workers: "Access Control via Facial Recognition Devices is Human Rights Violation and Discrimination"

After COVID-19, public officials modified the facial recognition system requiring masks to be lowered,
but public service workers still use facial recognition for access
"Discriminatory acts between public officials and public service workers and potential COVID-19 infection risk"

A public service employee at the Sejong Government Complex lowering their mask to use the facial recognition device for entry. Photo by the Public Transport Workers' Union National Public Service Workers' Branch

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Contract workers at the Sejong Government Complex have filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission, claiming that managing access through facial recognition devices constitutes discrimination.

On the 21st, the National Public Officials Branch of the Public Transport Union under the Korean Confederation of Trade Unions announced, "We filed a complaint with the National Human Rights Commission on the 9th, demanding the removal and correction of facial recognition devices that promote discrimination between contract workers and public officials." These workers are employed by the Government Complex Management Headquarters under the Ministry of the Interior and Safety. A total of 2,442 employees, including cleaning staff, facility managers, and security guards, work there.

The union argues that only contract workers are required to use facial recognition devices to enter the Ministry of the Interior and Safety building in Sejong City, which they claim is discriminatory. The existing access system for ministry officials required that when an access card was scanned at the entrance, the registered facial recognition data had to match the information recognized by the facial recognition device for the door to open. However, after the outbreak of COVID-19, due to mask-wearing preventing facial recognition, the system was modified so that those carrying access cards could open the door by scanning only their cards.

However, contract workers, who previously did not have access cards, are still only allowed to enter through facial recognition devices. A union official stated, "Contract workers must enter through a different passage where the facial recognition device operates, in addition to the access card recognition passage, to enter the Ministry of the Interior and Safety," and added, "The procedure of lowering masks and lining up at the main entrance, a public area frequented by public officials and the general public, raises concerns about COVID-19 infection."

The union stated, "(Managing access through facial recognition) significantly infringes on the right to control personal information protected under Articles 10 and 17 of the Constitution and restricts fundamental rights," and added, "Seeing public officials and outsiders entering through the entrance without facial recognition devices causes contract workers to feel shame and self-loathing."

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