The South Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security reiterated support this week for its plans to abolish legislation that requires Internet users on social networks to use their real names on websites.  Currently, the law requires websites with more than 100,000 visitors per day to require users to register with their real names.  In the past this rule has brought opprobrium from civil rights groups, who have argued that the requirement limits South Korean internet freedoms and privacy rights by removing the possibility of anonymity from the bigger Internet services.
The move to reform the law comes soon after a massive data breach last month, in which hackers allegedly stole the personal details of a reported 35 million South Koreans from the company SK Communications.  The two most affected websites operated by the company, Cyworld and Nate, were particularly hard hit — and the “real name” law only made the breach worse when it happened.  As well as real names, the compromised data is said to include email addresses, phone numbers, passwords, and even resident registration numbers, although some of the more sensitive information was allegedly encrypted.

The South Korean Ministry of Public Administration and Security reiterated support this week for its plans to abolish legislation that requires Internet users on social networks and other websites to use their real names.  Currently, the law requires websites with more than 100,000 visitors per day to require users to register with their real names.  In the past, this rule has brought opprobrium from civil rights groups, who have argued that the requirement limits South Korean Internet freedoms and privacy rights by removing the possibility of anonymity from the bigger Internet services.

The move to reform the law comes soon after a massive data breach last month, in which hackers allegedly stole the personal details of a reported 35 million South Koreans from the company SK Communications.  Websites operated by Cyworld and Nate were particularly hard hit — and the “real name” law only made the breach worse when it happened.  As well as real names, the compromised data is said to include email addresses, phone numbers, passwords, and even resident registration numbers, although some of the more sensitive information was allegedly encrypted.

Tags: Anonymity, International, South Korea
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Photo of Dan Cooper Dan Cooper

Daniel Cooper is co-chair of Covington’s Data Privacy and Cyber Security Practice, and advises clients on information technology regulatory and policy issues, particularly data protection, consumer protection, AI, and data security matters. He has over 20 years of experience in the field, representing…

Daniel Cooper is co-chair of Covington’s Data Privacy and Cyber Security Practice, and advises clients on information technology regulatory and policy issues, particularly data protection, consumer protection, AI, and data security matters. He has over 20 years of experience in the field, representing clients in regulatory proceedings before privacy authorities in Europe and counseling them on their global compliance and government affairs strategies. Dan regularly lectures on the topic, and was instrumental in drafting the privacy standards applied in professional sport.

According to Chambers UK, his “level of expertise is second to none, but it’s also equally paired with a keen understanding of our business and direction.” It was noted that “he is very good at calibrating and helping to gauge risk.”

Dan is qualified to practice law in the United States, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Belgium. He has also been appointed to the advisory and expert boards of privacy NGOs and agencies, such as the IAPP’s European Advisory Board, Privacy International and the European security agency, ENISA.

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