Court Rules "SKT to Stop Pseudonymizing Personal Data," Subscribers Win Lawsuit

Seoul Euljiro SK Telecom T Tower / Photo by Mun Ho-nam munonam@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kim Daehyun] Some SK Telecom subscribers filed a lawsuit demanding the cessation of pseudonymization of personal information and won the first trial.

On the afternoon of the 19th, the Civil Agreement Division 29 of the Seoul Central District Court (Presiding Judge Han Jeongseok) ruled in favor of the plaintiffs in the first trial of a claim for suspension of processing worth about 250 million KRW filed by five subscribers including Mr. Jeong against SKT.

The court stated, "The revised Personal Information Protection Act significantly restricts the data subject's right to autonomously decide on pseudonymized information," and added, "The exercise of the data subject's right to request suspension of pseudonymization of personal information can be seen as the only exercise of decision-making authority regarding pseudonymized information." It then judged that "the defendant (SKT) must not pseudonymize the plaintiffs' personal information."

Pseudonymized information refers to information where parts of personal data are deleted or replaced so that the individual cannot be identified without additional information. Telecommunication companies must pseudonymize personal information when using it additionally or providing it to third parties without the consent of the data subject.

Organizations such as People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy, Lawyers for a Democratic Society (Minbyun), Seoul YMCA, and the Progressive Network Center asked SKT in October 2020 whether the personal information held was pseudonymized, whether the data subjects of pseudonymized information could access all personal information, and ultimately demanded the cessation of pseudonymization due to concerns that telecom companies might abuse personal information.

SKT rejected these demands, stating, "The right to access and suspend processing of personal information is limited for information that has already been pseudonymized." People's Solidarity for Participatory Democracy and others filed a lawsuit in February of the following year, arguing, "If there is no right to access or suspend processing, once personal information falls into the hands of companies, data subjects have no means to control or monitor it." Mr. Jeong and others voluntarily participated in this lawsuit.