Checking Black Box After Accident and Confirming Conversation Recording
"Installed When Purchasing Vehicle... Not a Violation of the Communication Privacy Act"
A story has been shared about a woman who decided to divorce after discovering that her husband, who is seven years younger, told another woman he was having an affair with that "my wife feels like a mother."
Black box. This photo is not directly related to the content of the article. [Image source=Yonhap News]
On the 13th, YTN Radio's 'Attorney Jo In-seop's Counseling Center' featured a story from Ms. A, who has been married for about 10 years to the friend of her youngest sibling. Ms. A explained, "Our married life was happy, but we never had children. Eventually, we decided to seek medical help, and on the way back from a consultation, we got into an accident. While waiting at a traffic light, the car behind hit my car, which then collided with the car in front due to the impact." Afterward, Ms. A received a request from the insurance company to send the black box footage from the accident. Upon reviewing it, she discovered that the day before the accident, her husband had given a ride to another woman.
Ms. A revealed, "In the black box recording, the woman asked my husband, 'Is your wife pretty, or am I?' and he replied, 'I'm prettier. Our wife just feels like a mom. She's comforting. She makes me want to be filial.'" She added, "My hands and feet trembled. I was so shocked by my husband's words. The time I spent despairing because I couldn't have a baby that looked like him now feels so empty." She asked for advice, saying, "I want to divorce my husband, but can I use the black box audio as evidence of his affair?"
Attorney Jo In-seop responded, "The primary issue here is whether this violates the Communication Privacy Protection Act. The Act prohibits recording or listening to 'conversations between others that are not publicly disclosed.'" He explained, "If the black box was deliberately installed in a vehicle that originally did not have one, with the intent to record conversations between others to gather evidence of a spouse's infidelity, then this act clearly involves the intent to record or listen to conversations between others, which can be considered illegal wiretapping under the Act."
Attorney Jo added, "However, if the black box was installed from the time the vehicle was purchased, not initially for the purpose of collecting evidence of infidelity, and the infidelity evidence was recorded incidentally while the black box was continuously installed in the car, then it is difficult to recognize illegality in the installation purpose, so the evidence can be used." He advised, "Don't blame yourself too much and think about what you need to do immediately."
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