[Personal Information Protection Act] Precautions when collecting personal information of minors, fine if you don’t know?

Law firm Veat provided legal advice to a healthcare startup (hereinafter referred to as "client") regarding whether the collection and use of personal information was legally permissible when providing online services to minors, and if so, what points should be considered.

Why is Minor Personal Information Protection Special?

The 「Personal Information Protection Act」 and related regulations in Korea regulate the collection, use, and provision of minor personal information more strictly than for adults. Therefore, especially in online services frequently used by minors (e.g., social media, games, streaming platforms, etc.), you need to operate your business, paying attention to these differences.

Essential Procedures for Collecting and Using Minor Personal Information

The Personal Information Protection Act stipulates that, except for special circumstances such as when there are special provisions in the law or when complying with legal obligations, consent from the information subject themselves must be obtained for the collection and use of personal information. However, for children under the age of 14, the consent of the legal representative of the child, who is the information subject, must be obtained.

Furthermore, a personal information processor is obligated to use an easy-to-understand format and clear and easy-to-understand language when notifying a child under the age of 14 about matters related to personal information processing.

If a personal information processor fails to obtain the consent of a legal representative or fails to verify whether a legal representative has consented when collecting personal information of a child under the age of 14, he or she may be subject to imprisonment for up to 5 years or a fine of up to 50 million won (Article 71(3) of the Personal Information Protection Act, Article 64-2(1)(2) of the same Act), and a surcharge may be imposed within a limit not exceeding 100% of the total sales revenue, so it is necessary to pay special attention when providing services to minors.

Protecting Children’s Personal Information with a Personal Information Legal Expert!

As explained above, failure to obtain and verify the consent of a legal representative when collecting information from children may result in criminal punishment and property disadvantages, so if your service allows minors to register, you must carefully review these matters. However, since it is difficult for general public to accurately understand what content is required by the Personal Information Protection Act and how to comply, we recommend that you obtain legal advice from a legal expert with expertise in the Personal Information Protection Act.

Law firm Veat provided guidance to the client regarding additional procedures for the processing of minor personal information as stipulated in the Personal Information Protection Act, and provided service-specific legal advice on matters to be noted to avoid violating relevant laws and regulations during the service provision process.

Legal Advice from Law firm Veat:
Customized Legal Support for Safe Business Operations

Law firm Veat supports not only the protection of personal information for services targeting minors, but also provides legal review and practical measures for overall personal information protection, helping companies to operate services in a state of minimizing legal risks. Through this advice, the client was able to prevent legal issues in the collection and use of personal information and establish a legal basis for stable service operation.

If you need legal advice regarding online services targeting minors, we recommend that you seek help from Law firm Veat at any time.

This business case study can also be viewed on the Law firm Veat blog.

-[Personal Information Protection Act] Precautions When Collecting Minor Personal Information, Fine?

Thank you.

Law firm Veat