Research Report
Ex-ante Evaluation of Data Protection Bill and Data Economy
Ⅰ. Backgrounds and Purposes
▶ On August 31, 2018, the government officially announced a data economy revitalization policy.
○ The policy to revitalize the data economy can be said to be in the context of the 4th industrial revolution policy, which has been started since the launch of the current government.
○ The data economy means a new economic system driven by data such as big data, open data, and connected data.
▶ In order to promote the data economy revitalization policy, it is necessary to innovate existing legislation, the most important of which is data protection legislation.
○ There are various administrative regulatory legislations related to the data economy, which of course are the subject of regulatory innovation discussions.
○ Data protection legislation is important because it is concerned with the use of information that has the greatest value among data.
▶ Therefore, this research intend to conduct an ex-ante evaluation of legislation on the ‘4 bills on data’ in the context of revitalizing the data economy.
○ 4 bills on data are the Personal Data Protection Law, Law on Network Communication and Data Protection, Law on the Use and Protection of Credit Data, and Law on Protection and Use of Location data.
○ 4 bills on data were proposed based on the consensus of stakeholders such as industry, academia, and civic groups through the Hackathon process of the Fourth Industrial Revolution Committee. Indeed, industry and civic groups offer different views on the agreement.
○ In this context, the legislative evaluation of 4 bills on data will be carried out so that they can be used for full-scale legislative discussions and deliberations in the future.
Ⅱ. Major Content
▶ (Legislative Evaluation Issues) The 4 bills on data raise the following legislative evaluation issues:
○ Legalization and application of the pseudonymous data concept
○ Use and provision of personal data without consent
○ Role of Personal Data Protection Committee
○ Establishment of data portability right and MyData regulation
○ Establishment of profiling regulations
▶ (Data Economy Level) While the influence of the data economy is expected to be higher, the actual data economy level of Korea is falling behind that of other major countries.
○ Korea’s data size and data industry size is less than 5% of the world, so Korea’s digital economy is somewhat behind the economic, technological, and social status of the international community.
○ Therefore, it is necessary to devise various policy measures for data utilization and promotion of related business and economy.
▶ (Consultation Results) The opinions of experts and stakeholders in the 4 bills on data are in conflict with positives and negatives, and various improvements have been proposed in detail.
○ Although there were few views that oppose the promotion of the data economy activation policy, some views raise the issue that the unilateral promotion of the data economy could lead to the deterioration of data protection laws.
○ Experts and stakeholders recognize that there is room for improvement in the content and framework of the proposed 4 bills on data.
▶ (Citizen Survey Results) Citizens are concerned about the data protection and privacy breaches that may be caused by the revitalization of the data economy, and negatively about the willingness and capacity of companies and governments to protect their data.
○ It is difficult for ordinary citizens to experience the data economy in earnest, and they are most concerned about privacy violations.
○ Regarding compliance and enforcement of data protection laws, ordinary citizens do not appear to trust the will and capabilities of business and government.
▶ (Suggestions for Legislation) In the discussion and deliberation process of 4 bills on data, it is necessary to pay attention to the following matters:
○ Improving the data protection laws to revitalize the data economy should not be achieved only in terms of increasing the possibility of using personal information.
○ The pseudonymous data concept and legislative technique used in 4 bills on data need to be supplemented.
○ The term ‘private investment research’ should be deleted from the definition of ‘scientific research’ as defined in the current legislative bill, and the detailed judgment on this need to be established using the functions of the Personal Data Protection Committee to be rearranged in the future.
○ Further use and provision of personal data without the consent of the personal data subject contained in the legislative bills need to be supplemented in more detail.
○ There is room to enhance independence as a supervisory body by supplementing the role and function of the Personal Data Protection Committee proposed by the bills.
○ Among the bills, it is necessary to be careful to introduce the MyData regulations included in the bill to the Law on the Use and Protection of Credit Data into the Personal Data Protection Law.
○ Among the bills, the profiling-related provisions included in the bill to the Law on the Use and Protection of Credit Data need to be carefully introduced into the Personal Data Protection Law.
Ⅲ. Expected Effects
○ The results of this research(ex-ante evaluation) can be referred to in 4 bills on data review process, and can be used to find better legislative alternatives.
○ The results of consultations and surveys can be used as a basis for identifying controversial points surrounding the 4 bills on data and forming legislative alternatives.
○ In addition, this study can be used as a model for ex-ante evaluation and applied to various fields in the future.