KCC Inspects Platform Location Information Management Practices Including Kakao Mobility

Concerns Over Location Data Leakage Including Taxi Boarding Records
Broadcasting Commission "Checking Whether Operators Fulfill Their Roles"

The Korea Communications Commission (KCC) will conduct a focused inspection on the management status of personal location information by taxi-hailing platform operators, including Kakao Mobility.

The number of taxi-hailing service usage cases has significantly increased, exceeding 10 million per month. Accordingly, concerns and criticisms have been raised regarding the leakage of individuals' location information, such as boarding and alighting records.

Photo by Hyunmin Kim kimhyun81@

The KCC plans to specifically inspect compliance with the Location Information Act and the overall related systems for major top operators, including Kakao Mobility, and impose sanctions such as administrative measures if violations are confirmed.

The KCC stated, "Through this inspection, we will check whether Kakao Mobility, which holds a monopolistic market share of over 90% in the taxi-hailing platform market, is faithfully fulfilling its role as a business operator in protecting personal location information in accordance with its market influence."

The KCC conducted a full inspection of about 2,000 location information providers and location-based service providers in 2022 and 2023. During this process, many operators with insufficient location information protection measures were identified, and sanctions are currently under review.

However, despite the two years of full inspections, operators not registered or reported to the KCC still remain as blind spots in protecting location information users. Next year, the KCC plans to focus on educating and inspecting unregistered and unreported operators.

Lee Dong-kwan, Chairman of the KCC, said, "Personal location information is sensitive information related to safety and privacy, and strict sanctions are necessary for operators who neglect the protection of user rights. At the same time, we will also promote regulatory relaxation and support for operators so that the innovation momentum of new industries can continue."