[The Editors' Verdict] The Dawn of the MyData Era

Seong-Yeop Lee, Professor at Korea University Graduate School of Technology Management and Director of the Technology Law Policy Center

On January 5th, the era of MyData (Personal Credit Information Management Service), the world's first full-fledged data analysis and provision business known as the financial secretary in my hand, finally began. MyData literally means that I make decisions about my data. Previously, data subjects only had passive consent rights regarding companies' data collection and use, but now they directly determine the fate of their data, including its active use. On the other hand, by allowing data held by existing companies to be transferred to other companies for better analysis and utilization, innovation through data use and competition among companies can be stimulated.

First, MyData in the financial sector started based on the Credit Information Act. Since the enforcement of the Credit Information Act in August 2020, a total of 54 operators have been licensed for the MyData business. Among them, 33 MyData operators have started MyData services using the Application Programming Interface (API) method. These include 10 banks, 4 securities companies, 6 card companies, 10 fintech firms, and one each from savings banks, mutual finance, and credit rating agencies, totaling 33 operators. The remaining 21 operators are expected to participate in the first half of the year after building related systems. There are a total of 550 information providers obligated to transfer information to MyData operators, mostly regulated financial companies excluding loan companies, and this time information from 417 companies is being provided.

It is truly remarkable that data from so many financial companies is moving almost in real-time through a secure method. This is an unprecedented massive data migration worldwide, made possible by the full cooperation of the financial authorities and the industry. The immediate change is that data subjects or financial consumers can now quickly and conveniently view almost all their financial data in an integrated manner, and furthermore, effective customized asset and financial management based on data analysis results has become possible.

The success of the MyData business depends on how to prevent data leakage risks arising from data movement and concentration while providing impressive services to data subjects through large-scale data analysis. Data integration and inquiry about where and how my data exists is fundamental, but to offer something beyond that, it is necessary to gather diverse and abundant data and advance data analysis technologies if possible. This should result in tangible benefits such as asset growth and disease management. It is also important how differentiated services can be provided by industry sector. In this regard, improvements should be made for data that is not yet provided or not provided in real-time.

In particular, a legal and institutional foundation should be promptly established to enable the combination of financial and non-financial sectors, such as designing insurance products based on healthcare data and linking them to asset management, thereby expanding various services. Additionally, the Financial Services Commission, having licensed the largest number of operators for a single issue since the establishment of the government, must pay close attention to supporting and managing these operators without gaps. Although considerable adjustments have been made regarding data protection and inter-industry interests, it is essential not to forget that the fundamental point is to approach MyData from the perspective of completeness of the MyData service and enhancement of user convenience.

Seong-Yeop Lee, Professor at Korea University Graduate School of Technology Management and Director of the Technology Law Policy Center