11 Organizations Including Pinsan Association Demand "Personal Information Protection Act Amendment Should Undergo Revision Review"

Increase in Penalty 'Total Sales Amount'
"Will Have a Major Negative Impact on the Entire Industry"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kiho Sung] The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) is scheduled to submit the amended Personal Information Protection Act to the National Assembly this month. In response, related associations have expressed concerns that "the second amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act was submitted to the National Assembly without reflecting the domestic industry and market conditions, and we hope for more thorough discussions in the National Assembly."

On the 30th, 11 organizations including the Korea Fintech Industry Association, Korea Venture Business Association, Korea Federation of Small and Medium Business, Korea Startup Forum, Korea Game Industry Association, Korea Employers Federation, Korea Digital Advertising Association, Korea Women Venture Association, Korea Online Shopping Association, Korea Internet Corporations Association, and Korea Telecommunications Operators Association released a joint statement regarding the amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act.

In the statement, they said, "When the Personal Information Protection Commission announced the draft amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act in January, it raised the penalty regulations based on ‘related sales’ under the current law to ‘total sales.’ However, although penalties based on total sales could severely burden the entire industry, the penalty provisions in the amendment were submitted to the National Assembly without sufficient discussion with stakeholders and without any revision to the premise of ‘total sales,’ making it impossible to predict what damage may occur to the domestic industry in the future."

The amendment includes provisions allowing data subjects, the public, to request that their personal information be sent to themselves or other companies, and to refuse decisions based on personal information that significantly affect their rights, such as credit ratings. Additionally, the penalties companies must pay for violations (up to 3% of total sales) are increased.

The associations pointed out, "If penalties are imposed including sales from business areas unrelated to personal information processing, companies newly entering the data utilization sector will give up on business expansion. In a situation where enforcement against foreign companies cannot be guaranteed, only domestic companies will be excessively penalized, losing competitiveness in the global market."

They continued, "If unbearable penalties are imposed on venture companies and startups leading Korea's future, they will no longer be able to operate their businesses, which will lead to the collapse of the growth engine of the domestic industry. We earnestly request that the National Assembly revise the second amendment so that the penalty provisions can be maintained based on ‘related sales’ as in the current law, so that the ladder of Korea’s future growth is not cut off."

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