"Please Delete Photos My Parents Posted"…Initiating Institutionalization of 'Right to Be Forgotten' for Children and Adolescents

Plan to Enact the 'Child and Adolescent Personal Information Protection Act' by 2024
Individuals Can Request Deletion of Videos Uploaded by Parents
Age for Personal Information Protection Raised from Under 14 to Under 18

Choi Young-jin, Vice Chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, is announcing the Basic Plan for the Protection of Personal Information of Children and Adolescents jointly with related ministries at the briefing room of the Government Seoul Office Building on the 11th.
[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Jung-wan] In the future, if parents post photos or videos of their children on social networking services (SNS) without the child's consent, the child will be able to request their deletion. This follows the implementation next year of a pilot project for the "right to be forgotten," allowing children and adolescents to request the deletion of personal information posted online by themselves, their parents, friends, or other third parties during their childhood and adolescence.

On the 11th, the government held a joint briefing at the Government Seoul Office with the Personal Information Protection Commission, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Health and Welfare, and Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, announcing the "Basic Plan for the Protection of Personal Information of Children and Adolescents," which includes this measure.

According to the plan, the government will enact the "Personal Information Protection Act for Children and Adolescents" by 2024. This legislation will include provisions on the "right to be forgotten" concerning personal information during childhood and adolescence. Individuals will be able to directly request the deletion of posts they made during their school years, videos of their childhood posted by parents, and defamatory or critical posts posted by school violence perpetrators against victims.

Before the law is enacted, starting next year, a pilot project will be conducted to support individuals in deleting or hiding posts they have uploaded online. In 2024, the scope of support will be expanded to include posts uploaded by third parties. This aims to prevent harm caused by "sharenting," where parents upload their children's growth process on SNS. However, deletion of personal information will be restricted if freedom of expression or the right to know is deemed to take precedence. The government plans to specify restrictions related to third-party legal interests, such as criminal investigations or court trials.

The age range for personal information protection will also be expanded. Currently, protection applies to those under 14 years old, but it will be extended to adolescents under 18 years old. This measure considers that children and adolescents aged 14 and above actively use and provide personal information online through SNS and other platforms.

Protection measures will be expanded in areas where children and adolescents particularly provide a lot of personal information, such as games, SNS, and education. A representative example is a system that automatically blocks chat messages when personal information is entered in game chat spaces.