Government Official Who Sent Family 'COVID-19 Confirmed Case Information' Found Not Guilty of Official Secrets Disclosure

Law: "Personal information is unlikely to be considered worthy of protection as business secrets"

[Asia Economy Reporter Heo Kyung-jun] The Supreme Court has ruled that county office officials who took photos of reports containing personal information of COVID-19 confirmed cases and sent them to their family members cannot be punished for the crime of "official secret leakage."

The Supreme Court's 2nd Division (Presiding Justice Cho Jae-yeon) announced on the 20th that it upheld the lower court's ruling that suspended the imposition of a 1 million won fine on four county office officials, including Mr. A, who were indicted for violating the Personal Information Protection Act and official secret leakage.

In January 2020, Mr. A attended a meeting held at the county office and obtained a document titled "Report on Novel Coronavirus Infection," which included personal information such as the gender, age, and family relationships of a confirmed patient, as well as the residences, genders, ages, and workplaces of people who had contact with the patient.

The issue arose when Mr. A took a photo of this document with his mobile phone and sent it to his spouse via messenger. The other three officials received the photo from team leader Mr. A and then forwarded it to their respective mothers, parents-in-law, or siblings.

The first trial court found Mr. A and the other three guilty of violating the Personal Information Protection Act but acquitted them of official secret leakage, sentencing each to a fine of 1 million won. The court reasoned that the addresses and workplaces of confirmed cases and contacts are information necessary for infectious disease prevention, and their personal details are not considered worthy of protection as official secrets.

The appellate court upheld the first trial's verdict on guilt and innocence but suspended the fines, considering the circumstances of the offense?sending the report only to family members during the COVID-19 outbreak?and the fact that the officials deleted the photos immediately after sending them.

The Supreme Court also agreed with the appellate court's judgment.

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