Suspended Prison Sentence for Attaching Phone with Location Tracking App to Car

Published 03 Jul.2025 07:05(KST)

A defendant who, after being rejected by someone he was interested in, suspected that person was dating his friend and attached a mobile phone with a location tracking application to her car to collect her location data, has been sentenced to a suspended prison term.

On May 9, Judge Jang Doobong, presiding judge of the Criminal Division 2 of the Ansan Branch of Suwon District Court, sentenced Mr. A, who was indicted for violating the Act on the Protection and Use of Location Information (commonly known as the Location Information Act), to six months in prison with a two-year suspension of execution (Case No. 2024Godan2803). The court also ordered the confiscation of the seized mobile phone.

Court. Asia Economy DB.

In August 2023, Mr. A met the victim, Ms. B, when he visited the hair salon where she worked as a customer. After exchanging messages, he expressed romantic interest in March 2024, but was rejected. Around the following month, Mr. A began to suspect that Ms. B was dating his friend, Mr. C. To confirm this, he attached a mobile phone capable of location tracking to the exhaust pipe of Ms. B's car. Mr. A then periodically replaced the phone’s battery and, until the end of August of the same year, collected and used Ms. B’s location information through the tracking app. He was indicted on charges of collecting and using personal location data without the consent of the data subject.

Article 15 of the Location Information Act stipulates that "No one shall collect, use, or provide personal location information without the consent of the data subject."

Judge Jang stated, "The sentence is determined by comprehensively considering various sentencing factors, including the circumstances, method, and duration of the crime, as well as the defendant’s age, character, environment, and circumstances after the offense."