Police Conduct Account Search of 'Corona List' Sellers
Data Secured with Our Investigation Cooperation...Fact Verification Underway
Sellers Continue Activities Despite Police Investigation
[Asia Economy Special Investigation Team] The police have launched a full-scale investigation into the online trading of personal information known as the "Corona list."
On the 25th, according to the police, the Chungnam Provincial Police Agency, which is investigating this case, has booked and is investigating an unidentified operator suspected of creating and distributing a database of the Corona list on the messenger Telegram.(Refer to our exclusive article on November 20, '[Exclusive] "Selling Corona List"... 2 Million Personal Information Records Circulated')
The police obtained a warrant from the court for the bank account used by the operator and conducted a search and seizure on the same day. This was to ascertain the facts related to the alleged sale of the Corona list. The search and seizure were carried out by presenting the warrant to the bank and receiving related materials.
Earlier, based on our report, the National Police Agency designated the Chungnam Police Agency as the lead investigative agency to look into these suspicions. With our cooperation, the police have secured information about the seller and the Corona list database necessary for the investigation. The police plan to first identify the exact personal details to secure the whereabouts of the seller and related parties based on this information. They also plan to conduct a comprehensive investigation, considering the possibility that the seized account might be a "dapo tongjang" (a bank account used for illegal purposes).
The police will also examine other operators selling similar databases and verify the authenticity of the database in question. However, based on various circumstances, the police believe it is unlikely that the list actually leaked from establishments' entry logs. A police official stated, "If necessary, we plan to contact the Ministry of Health and Welfare and the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency, which the operator claims were hacked," adding, "We will decide whether to expand the scope of the investigation after the initial inquiry."
Meanwhile, despite our report and the police investigation, the Corona list is still being traded on Telegram. The operator booked by the police is still active. He claims, "I extracted additional information from an institution in the Gyeonggi-do area."
Previously, concerns about personal information leakage arose from the manual entry method of entry logs, leading to the introduction of the QR code-based electronic entry log system (KI-Pass). However, many still express unease. This is because a significant number of establishments still use manual logs, and many do not follow quarantine rules that require only the phone number and district of residence to be recorded instead of names. Various incidents related to entry logs continue to occur nationwide. On the 7th, at a famous restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul, a man tore off part of the restaurant's entry log and fled after stealing it. In September, a man in his 20s was caught by the police for secretly photographing an entry log with his phone at a restaurant in Jongno-gu, Seoul. There was also a controversial case where someone contacted a person after seeing the COVID-19 entry log, saying, "I called because I was lonely. I'll buy you a drink."
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