Controversy Over Effectiveness of Personal Information Disclosure, Lee Gi-young's SNS Tracking
"Even Suspects' Unauthorized Distribution Violates Portrait Rights"
[Asia Economy Reporter Kang Juhee] Photos presumed to be of Lee Gi-young, whose identity was disclosed on suspicion of consecutively murdering a woman he lived with and a taxi driver, are spreading online.
As criticisms arose that the photos of the suspect released by the police differ from his actual appearance, netizens began searching for Lee's photos themselves. However, experts point out that even for suspects whose identities have been disclosed, the so-called 'doxxing'?distributing personal information without consent?may be illegal.
On the 29th of last month, the Gyeonggi Northern Provincial Police Agency held a Identity Information Disclosure Review Committee and decided to disclose Lee's age and face, distributing a driver's license photo. However, some argued that due to photo retouching, the image differed from reality, which contradicts the system's purpose of preventing crime recurrence.
Such criticism was also present when the identity of Jeon Joo-hwan, the suspect in the Sindang Station murder case last September, was disclosed. Netizens commonly reacted that there was a significant difference between the ID photo distributed by the police and the images captured during Jeon's transfer to the prosecution.
The police, aware of this critical public opinion, considered releasing a 'mugshot' taken after Lee's arrest, but it is known that Lee refused. Under current law, even if identity disclosure is decided, mugshots cannot be forcibly released for human rights protection. The only case in Korea where a mugshot was publicly released with the individual's consent was Lee Seok-jun, who committed a retaliatory murder of a woman under protection and her family last December.
As debates over the effectiveness of the identity disclosure system continue each time a violent crime suspect is caught, some netizens are finding and sharing Lee's past traces on social networking services (SNS) and other online platforms. Even now, searching related keywords on portals and SNS reveals photos presumed to have been posted by Lee on his SNS. Some were uploaded without mosaic blurring of the face.
However, experts point out that even for suspects whose identities have been disclosed, distributing personal information without the individual's consent is illegal.
Professor Jang Young-soo of Korea University Law School stated, "Forcibly distributing another person's personal information is illegal. The police cannot enforce this either," adding, "It constitutes a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and infringement of portrait rights, and if the individual raises an issue, it could lead to litigation."
Professor Jang also advised, "Although the effectiveness of the identity disclosure system has been consistently questioned, which has led to some dissemination of identity information, there is a need to establish legal grounds to allow mugshot photography when necessary."
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