PIPC to Promote Automatic Face Blurring Technology in CCTV... 6.2 Billion KRW Invested

[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on the 3rd that it will develop a 'Real-time Personal Video Information Masking (Concealment Blocking) System' that automatically blurs personal information such as pedestrians' faces and vehicle numbers captured through closed-circuit television (CCTV).

According to the Personal Information Protection Commission, as of December last year, there are a total of 1.33 million CCTVs installed and operated by public institutions, and it is expected that various services utilizing CCTV will increase. However, CCTV footage installed in public places contains personal information of unspecified many, raising ongoing concerns about privacy invasion.

Accordingly, the Personal Information Protection Commission proposed the development of the masking system to the 'Public Demand-Based Innovative Product Development and Demonstration Project' promoted by the Ministry of Science and ICT. This project was finally selected as a new task, with a total budget of 6.19 billion KRW to be invested by 2024.

The real-time personal video information masking system refers to automatically detecting individuals' faces or vehicle numbers in videos captured by CCTV in real time and either preventing those parts from being recorded or blurring them to make identification impossible.

The Personal Information Protection Commission plans to develop a high-performance system that automatically processes high-definition live video masking in real time through algorithm optimization and hardware improvements.

Park Sang-hee, Secretary General of the Personal Information Protection Commission, said, "We will support the successful development and demonstration of the masking system in cooperation with related organizations and strive to enable many public institutions and private businesses to utilize the developed product."

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