[Law firm Veat] Messages to Korean Companies from Lessons Related to EU Functional Food Regulations

Law firm Veat published a column on the importance of personal information protection, cyber security, and legal responsibility for companies in the health functional food industry to the startup-focused media platform Platum.

This column focused on the importance of health data protection and the challenges for Korean companies to respond to the global regulatory environment, highlighting major cases that arose under the EU’s personal information protection regulations (GDPR). In particular, the case where REWE was fined 8 million euros for using health functional food data for marketing, Doorstep Dispensaree, which was sanctioned for abandoning patient records, and Centric Health, which suffered ransomware damage due to a security breach, are sending a serious warning to all companies handling health data regardless of industry.

It also emphasizes that health data should be treated as sensitive personal information rather than simple purchase history, explaining that GDPR designates it as 'special category data' and strongly protects it. As core response strategies that Korean companies must fulfill to survive and grow in the global market, it proposes △Legal compliance at the GDPR level △Strengthening data encryption and security systems △Clear consent procedures and transparent data operation △Regular security audits and risk diagnostics △Strengthening internal and external capabilities through collaboration with experts.

[This link] allows you to check the details of this column.

Law firm Veat specializes in providing legal advice on personal information protection, cyber security, AI and big data utilization across the digital healthcare and health functional food industries. It helps companies stably achieve both goals of data protection and trust building through practical and systematic advice based on a risk diagnosis based on company-specific personal information flow, policy formulation, contract review, consent form design, and supervisory authority response.

Joo-hyeong, head of the Food Regulatory Consulting Team at Law firm Veat, is a Doctor of Law and a domestic and international food regulatory expert, and has served as a visiting professor at the Food Safety Regulatory Science Department of Chung-Ang University and the Policy Research Office of the Food Safety Information Agency. He holds US FSVP, PCHF-PCQI/FSPCA qualifications and has a broad understanding and practical experience in global food and data regulation response.

Companies in healthcare, wellness services or health functional food platforms, businesses or other areas requiring legal risk management and personal information protection are welcome to contact Law firm Veat at any time.

Thank you.

Law firm Veat