The State of Personal Information Protection Legislation in the Public Sector: Based on the 2021 Amendment

Abstract

 In May 2021, the "Act on the Protection of Personal Information" was revised. The amendment is intended to resolve various imbalances and inconsistencies in the personal information protection laws and regulations among the public sector, private sector, and regions in order to promote the utilization of data across public, private, and regional borders toward the realization of a digital society. In the case of public sector personal information protection legislation, the following three main points have been revised. The first is the unification of rules between the public and private sectors to change the content of various public sector rules, including the definition of "personal information"; the second is the introduction of common rules for the protection of personal information by local governments; and the third is the expansion of the supervisory authority of the Personal Information Protection Commission to the public sector. Although it can be evaluated that these amendments have resolved the imbalances and inconsistencies in personal information protection legislation to a certain extent, there are still issues to be addressed in terms of ensuring the level of protection of personal information and appropriately addressing privacy risks that are essential in promoting the utilization of data.