개인정보의 형사법적 보호

A Study on the Criminal Policy of Protecting Personal Data under the Personal Informational Protection Act

This article mainly discusses current legal issues on whether to criminalize or decriminalize a person’s act divulging or providing a third party with personal information without consent of data subject and knowingly receiving such personal information for a profit-making or unfair purposes. The current Personal Information Protection Act(hereinafter the PIPA) does not punish a person who receives personal information without consent of a data subject or any other authority while the PIPA does punish a person who divulges or provides a third party without authority with the personal information acquired in the course of performing business and a person who knowingly receives such personal information for a profit-making or unfair purposes under the Article 71(5). This paper through a comparative research on the related Acts of Korea and foreign countries argues as follows. First, the PIPA should punish a person who knowingly receives personal information without consent of a data subject or any other legal authority. Second, Article 71(5) of PIPA needs revision so as to clarify the meaning of ‘in the course of business’ and ‘unfair purposes.’ Third, the PIPA should criminalize the act of acquiring sensitive information that is likely to threat the privacy of any data subject.