19. Case on Identity Verification of Potential Subscribers to Mobile Communications Services
the identification. In this way, the 13-digit resident registration number
will not be continuously used by the mobile carrier. In fact, the Potential
Subscriber may not directly provide the resident registration number by
choosing to enter into the subscription contract with the mobile carrier
online, in which his or her identity is verified by a certified digital
signature instead of the resident registration number.
Furthermore, the Personal Information Protection Act and the Act on
Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and
Information Protection, Etc. aim to prevent harm, including data leakage,
caused by the collection of the personal information, including any
person’s name, address, date of birth, and resident registration number.
To this end, these Acts prescribe technological and managerial standards
that a personal information controller must meet in protecting personal
information, and grant to administrative agencies a prerogative to
supervise whether the personal information controller complies with those
standards. In this way, limitations on the right to informational
self-determination are reduced to the minimum.
The identity verification process shall be made under the Provisions at
Issue in a process of the contract for mobile communications services,
through which the Potential Subscriber has not yet made any
communications. As a result, this identity verification process does not
enable a third party to immediately obtain specific information, such as
with whom, when, and for how long the user has communicated.
Therefore, the Provisions at Issue do not place the Potential Subscriber in
a situation where he or she cannot readily subscribe to mobile phone
services out of fear that he or she may be punished because of the
content of and circumstances surrounding communications made through
the mobile phone services.
The Provisions at Issue serve substantial public interests in preventing
harm caused by identity theft and deterring criminals from using mobile
phones registered under false names to commit a crime such as voice
phishing, as well as in maintaining order existing in a communications
network. These public interests outweigh the disadvantages to the
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