[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Heung-soon] The Ministry of Education and the Personal Information Protection Commission disclosed the "Guidelines for Processing Pseudonymous and Anonymous Information in the Education Sector" on the 26th.
The two organizations established the education sector guidelines to prevent misuse issues (such as personal information re-identification and use beyond the intended purpose) that may occur during the processing of pseudonymous information and to ensure safe processing and utilization of pseudonymous information reflecting the characteristics of the education sector.
Pseudonymization refers to processing personal information by deleting some parts or replacing some or all parts so that a specific individual cannot be identified without additional information.
According to the guidelines, personal information processors such as educational administrative agencies, schools, and public institutions supervised by the Minister of Education are recommended to form an appropriateness committee to review whether pseudonymization of information has been properly conducted and whether re-identification is impossible in the future when receiving information from these institutions.
Additionally, when pseudonymous information is provided, records of the pseudonymous and anonymous information provision ledger and monitoring of the possibility of re-identification due to the use of pseudonymous information must be regularly checked. When providing pseudonymous information to a third party, protection measures for the pseudonymous information must be included in the contract.
Personal information processors should follow the principles of the "Guidelines for Processing Pseudonymous Information" provided by the Personal Information Protection Commission, but when receiving education institutions or education information, the education sector guidelines should be applied first.
Separately from establishing the guidelines, the Ministry of Education decided to support institutions that have difficulty in pseudonymization due to small scale or lack of specialized personnel by utilizing higher-level or specialized institutions such as education support offices or the Korea Education and Research Information Service.
Lee Seung-bok, Director of the Education Safety Information Bureau at the Ministry of Education, said, "We will continuously reflect the opinions from the education field and support a personal information protection system that all students, faculty, and parents can trust."
Kang Yu-min, Director of the Personal Information Policy Bureau at the Personal Information Protection Commission, added, "Considering that the education sector includes not only information about most citizens but also a large amount of sensitive information, it is necessary to support safer processing. Active cooperation from educational institutions is essential to create a usage environment that the entire nation can trust."
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