Government Employee 'Not Guilty' for 52 Unauthorized Accesses to Boyfriend's Family Personal Information... Why?

Social Welfare Officer... Has System Access Rights
"Acknowledges Abuse of Authority but Denies Unlawful Means"

An administrative welfare center official was brought to trial on charges of accessing personal information of her boyfriend's family but was acquitted. Although the act is considered blameworthy by social standards, it did not constitute a crime under the relevant legal provisions.

According to the legal community on the 28th, the Busan District Court Seobu Branch Criminal Division 4 (Judge Oh Heung-rok) announced that it acquitted Ms. A, a woman in her 30s, who was indicted for violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

Busan District Court Seobu Branch
[Photo by Yonhap News]

Ms. A was a public official in charge of social welfare at an administrative welfare center in Busan and was responsible for handling personal information on a site called the "Social Security Information System." She was tried on charges of obtaining personal information about her boyfriend Mr. B, his father, and his sibling a total of 52 times through the site from April to June last year.

The Social Security Information System is a system created by the government to manage welfare benefit recipients and allows nationwide inquiries. This system enables checking personal details such as date of birth, address, phone number, and income.

Ms. A’s duties involved handling social welfare-related civil complaints, so she had the authority to access personal information. However, she accessed the personal information of Mr. B’s family without their consent, and upon discovering this, Mr. B filed a complaint. Consequently, a disciplinary committee was convened at the relevant district office regarding Ms. A.

The prosecution viewed that since Ms. A obtained the information without the consent of Mr. B’s family and without following proper procedures, she violated Articles 59(1) and 72(2) of the Personal Information Protection Act. According to these provisions, acquiring personal information through false or unfair means or receiving personal information for improper purposes can result in imprisonment of up to three years or a fine of up to 30 million won.

However, the court acquitted Ms. A. For a guilty verdict, unfair means or methods must have been used during the access of personal information, but Ms. A had authorized access to the Social Security Information System. The court judged that since Ms. A logged into the system using her ID and password, it did not constitute unfair means or methods. Additionally, the fact that there were no separate procedures such as entering the reason for access or obtaining approval from a superior each time personal information was accessed also supported the acquittal.

The court stated, "While Ms. A is not without fault, it is difficult to conclude that the prosecution proved the disputed provisions beyond a reasonable doubt. Although Ms. A obtained information beyond her authority, there was no evidence that she bypassed security procedures or entered false reasons, so we acquit her."