Personal Information Protection Commission Joins APEC Privacy Enforcement Arrangement

[Asia Economy Reporter Seulgina Jo] The Personal Information Protection Commission announced on the 26th that it officially joined the Cross-Border Privacy Enforcement Arrangement (CPEA) on October 19, an agreement aimed at cooperation in law enforcement related to personal information protection among Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) member countries.

With this CPEA agreement membership, if the personal information of our citizens is leaked overseas, it is now possible to request information sharing from member countries or participate in joint investigations when necessary, enabling cooperation required for law enforcement. As of October, the member countries include the United States, Japan, Canada, Australia, Mexico, Hong Kong, Singapore, Taiwan, the Philippines, New Zealand, and others, totaling 11 countries.

The CPEA agreement was established in 2010 to facilitate law enforcement cooperation such as information sharing and joint investigations related to personal information protection among APEC member countries. Joining the agreement means that the Commission has qualified as Korea’s representative personal information protection law enforcement agency and officially participates in various cooperation channels at the APEC level. Korea’s Ministry of the Interior and Safety and the Korea Communications Commission had each joined the CPEA agreement, but due to the dispersion of personal information protection laws and functions, there were difficulties in efficiently responding to overseas personal information leakage incidents.

Following the enforcement of the amended Personal Information Protection Act on August 5, the Commission actively participates in global personal information issues being discussed in various international organizations such as APEC as Korea’s representative personal information protection supervisory agency.

Yoon Jong-in, Chairperson of the Commission, stated, “Through strengthening international cooperation in the field of personal information protection, we will support companies’ overseas expansion and reinforce the international cooperation system to thoroughly prevent infringement of our citizens’ personal information by global companies.”