KIPA Urges Withdrawal of Personal Information Protection Act's 'Total Sales-Based Penalty' Provision

[Asia Economy Reporter Bu Aeri] The internet and startup industries have urged the Personal Information Protection Commission to withdraw the proposed increase in penalty standards in the draft amendment to the Personal Information Protection Act announced for legislative notice.

On the 10th, 11 organizations including the Korea Internet Corporations Association, Korea Startup Forum, and Korea Game Industry Association stated in a joint position paper, "The proposal to raise fines based on total sales must be withdrawn."

They said, "This deviates from the fundamental principle of fines, which is the recovery of economic unjust gains from violations," and expressed concern that "small and venture companies operating businesses or services that require essential personal information processing will not be able to sustain their management, and it will act as a barrier to entry for the personal information utilization industry."

They also argued, "Above all, there is no 'empirical research result' showing that increasing the scale of fines affects strengthening personal information protection, so unconditionally raising the penalty imposition standards neither helps strengthen personal information protection nor revitalizes industries utilizing personal information."

The organizations also opposed granting compulsory investigative authority to the Dispute Mediation Committee. They emphasized, "Imposing coercive power equivalent to judicial police authority defines a unilateral administrative act that deviates from the purpose of 'dispute mediation,'" and stated, "This must be deleted."

Additionally, they expressed the need for a thorough review of the introduction of the right to request personal information transfer. They requested a reexamination of key provisions, stating, "The right to request personal information transfer restricts corporate property rights and freedom of business, and the investment in facilities and costs imposes a huge burden on small and venture companies."