NHRCK Recommends Amendment to Court Regulations on Personal Data Protection
NHRCK finds that sending penalty decisions without anonymizing personal data constitutes a violation of the right to informational self-determination
□ The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (Chairperson: Ahn Chang-ho, hereinafter “NHRCK”) announced on July 29, 2025, that it has recommended the Minister of the National Court Administration amend relevant regulations, after determining that ○○ District Court △△ Branch (hereinafter “the Respondent Institution”) violated the right to informational self-determination by sending penalty decisions to case parties without anonymizing personal information.
□ The complainant alleged that, in issuing a penalty decision, the Respondent Institution notified 62 parties to the case, including the complainant, without anonymizing sensitive personal information such as the complainant’s full resident registration number (13 digits), detailed address, and apartment unit number.
□ In response, the Respondent Institution explained that the penalty decision had been prepared in accordance with the Regulation on the Forms of Court Judgments and the Regulation on the Drafting of Original Court Documents, and therefore was not unlawful. However, it acknowledged concerns about possible infringements of the right to informational self-determination and stated that it had already requested institutional improvements, including revision of the regulations.
□ The NHRCK’s Committee on Human Rights Violations 1 (Chair: Commissioner Kim, Yong-won) concluded that the Respondent Institution’s actions did indeed infringe upon the constitutional right to informational self-determination.
○ The NHRCK recalled that it had already recommended in 2010 that the courts revise their regulations to prevent the disclosure of personal information in penalty and summary order decisions, after which the National Court Administration introduced a computer program to anonymize resident registration numbers. The Commission noted that the penalty decision in this case could likewise have been sufficiently anonymized using similar measures.
□ The NHRCK stated: “Through this recommendation, we expect that the National Court Administration will amend the Regulation on the Forms of Court Judgments to clearly require anonymization of personal data when penalty decisions involving multiple parties are sent, thereby further strengthening the protection of personal information.”
