The Report on Human Rights Situation in the Republic of Korea
[Personal Information Protection Act] classifies biometric information as
sensitive information and applies stronger protection standards as compared to
general personal information. Sensitive information cannot be processed unless
additional consent from the data subject is obtained as related to its processing, or
as required or permitted by laws.
However, most of the personal information collected through facial recognition
system are processed without giving a sufficient opportunity for the people to
become aware of. The information is processed without giving the right to consent
to the concerned individual and without freedom to select in advance or
afterwards. The Council of Europe (CoE) and the EU Fundamental Rights Agency
(FRA) define ‘mass surveillance’ as all surveillance not performed as targeted
surveillance on specific individual (CoE) or “random surveillance without prior
agreement” (FRA), and the facial recognition system corresponds to these definitions.
C) Direction of the Future Improvement of the Facial Recognition System
Establishment Projects
Major international organizations and countries are actively discussing the
danger and potential human rights violation of the facial recognition system. The
major technology companies, such as Google, Amazon, IBM and Microsoft, are
asserting the prohibition of the use of the facial recognition system or has declared
the suspension of services.
[The Artificial Intelligence Act] under discussion by the EU stipulates the real
time remote biometrics recognition system for the purpose of executing law in
places publicly accessible as ‘risks not to be permitted’ or ‘high-risk’ artificial
intelligence and requested prohibition in principle. Furthermore, the UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights (UNHCHR), in ‘the right to privacy in the digital
age: report (2021)’ in September 2021, urged each country to postpone the use of
the high-risk artificial intelligence, including the facial recognition technology,
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