Personal Information Protection Commission Recommends Corrective Actions for 30 Local Governments Violating Protection Law
47 Violations Detected Including Failure to Retain Access Records After Task Processing
[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] It has been revealed that 30 local government agencies nationwide, including Gyeongsangbuk-do and Jung-gu in Seoul, violated the Personal Information Protection Act and inadequately handled personal information protection. Among them, 12 agencies received disciplinary recommendations, marking the first such action against public institutions since the establishment of the Personal Information Protection Commission.
On the 27th, the Personal Information Protection Commission held its 2nd committee meeting and announced corrective action recommendations for 30 local government agencies that violated the Personal Information Protection Act. Additionally, disciplinary recommendations were issued to 12 of these agencies. This action represents the first case of imposing sanctions on public institutions for violations of the protection law since the commission's launch on August 5 last year.
The commission conducted on-site inspections from May to July last year targeting 30 local government agencies with inadequate protection levels, based on the 2019 personal information management level assessment results. The inspection uncovered 47 major violations, including ▲ failure to retain access logs of personal information processing systems (27 agencies) ▲ unauthorized sharing of accounts among personal information handlers (19 agencies) ▲ failure to encrypt resident registration numbers (1 agency) ▲ failure to destroy personal information after achieving the purpose of processing (1 agency).
Alongside these corrective measures, the commission plans to provide consulting and education to agencies with insufficient personal information management levels. Regular consulting on safety measures and role- and level-specific training will be conducted for personal information protection officers and handlers in these agencies to strengthen their capabilities.
Yoon Jong-in, Chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated, “We plan to continuously conduct inspections and consulting for local governments that collect and process large-scale personal information at the point of contact with citizens' daily lives. Through this, we aim to ensure that local governments protect personal information with responsibility and vigilance, thereby alleviating public concerns.”
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