Legal review regarding the legitimacy of advertising information transmissions related to recruiting participants for surveys.

Law firm Veat received a request from platform company A (hereinafter referred to as "the client") to conduct a legal review regarding the processing of personal information related to surveys.

The client intended to send promotional messages to existing users to encourage participation in recruiting a survey panel, and requested a review of the legality of sending such promotional messages.

Law firm Veat’s personal information team examined whether the survey constituted advertising information for commercial purposes under the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Protection of Information (hereinafter referred to as “the Information and Communications Network Act”), focusing on key factors such as whether the purpose of the survey was limited to the client’s service satisfaction and complaints, and the nature of the coupons provided to participants.

We reviewed various aspects to determine whether it constituted advertising information, including whether the investigation was solely for service feedback, whether the compensation (such as coupons) provided to participants was used as a means of encouraging participation, and whether this compensation was linked to purchase inducement.

Based on a thorough review of the scope of personal information collection and use that the client’s subscribers consented to during service registration, we organized the possibility of sending participation messages for the survey in a table and explained it.

Always obtain "separate" prior consent for sending promotional messages. 

According to the Information and Communications Network Act, anyone who uses an electronic transmission medium to send commercial advertising information must obtain prior consent from the recipient. Even if the main information is not advertising, it does not fall under any exemption, and even if a prior business relationship exists, only content related to goods for which money was paid for trading can be sent.

Sending information without explicit consent from the user and then proceeding with an objection process is in violation of the provisions of the Information and Communications Network Act and may result in a fine and may also negatively impact the client’s relationship with the client.

Before sending promotional messages to members, review in detail with a personal information attorney whether the message constitutes "advertising information" under the Information and Communications Network Act, and if so, whether prior consent has been obtained from the member, and whether the specific items that must be stated when transmitting advertising information have been specified, to ensure safe transmission. 

A team of personal information attorneys specializing in personal information protection, Law firm Veat’s personal information team 

Law firm Veat’s personal information team continuously monitors the latest legal trends related to personal information protection and comprehensively reviews personal information-related laws to provide client companies with optimized business models and legal stability.

If you need legal advice regarding the collection and processing of personal information in various methods of customer communication, such as recruiting survey panels and satisfaction surveys, please contact Law firm Veat.

Law firm Veat will help maintain the company's credibility and contribute to the company’s growth. 

Thank you.

From Law firm Veat