Human Rights Commissioner: "Concerns Over Excessive Privacy Exposure of COVID-19 Confirmed Cases... Must Prevent Secondary Damage"

Choi Young-ae, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission. [Photo by Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Jeong Dong-hoon] Choi Young-ae, Chairperson of the National Human Rights Commission, expressed concern on the 9th through a statement that "there are cases where intimate private information is excessively exposed beyond what is necessary during the process of local governments and municipalities disclosing the movement paths of confirmed COVID-19 patients."

Currently, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency and local governments at the city and provincial levels are specifically disclosing the routes and places visited by confirmed patients by date and time through methods such as media reports and internet homepage announcements.

Chairperson Choi stated, "While it is difficult to deny the necessity of partially disclosing the places and times visited by infected patients to prevent and control the spread of infectious diseases, in reality, excessive private information of individual confirmed patients is being disclosed in detail, resulting in cases of human rights violations where the intimate private lives of confirmed patients are unintentionally exposed."

In particular, Chairperson Choi pointed out, "Furthermore, we cannot help but be concerned about the secondary damage spreading on the internet, where the confirmed patients become targets of criticism, ridicule, and hatred."

Chairperson Choi emphasized, "Because excessive private information is disclosed in detail, cases of human rights violations where the intimate private lives of confirmed patients are unintentionally exposed have appeared. Moreover, secondary damage such as criticism, ridicule, and hatred against the confirmed patients on the internet is also occurring, which is deeply concerning."

In response, Chairperson Choi suggested, "Instead of disclosing the visit times and places of each confirmed patient individually, measures such as disclosing only the places visited by time without identifying individuals should be considered. Additionally, the health authorities should disclose the disinfection and quarantine status of facilities or businesses visited by confirmed patients to alleviate public anxiety and protect the privacy of confirmed patients."

Finally, Chairperson Choi urged the health authorities, "We expect you to establish detailed and reasonable standards for the disclosure of information about confirmed patients to effectively suppress the spread of new infectious diseases like COVID-19 while preventing excessive infringement on the privacy of infected patients."