hankyoreh

The most iconic scene of Minority Report.

South Korean police have begun work on a “big data program” in which online information is input into a database to predict the likelihood of future crimes.

The plan, which has been likened to a Korean version of the film Minority Report - a futuristic science fiction film about psychics predicting crimes before they happen - is now poised to generate controversy over the lack of public discussion over the potential for illegal gathering of personal information.

On Feb. 4 the Korean National Police Agency (KNPA) website showed an announcement recruiting participants for new “security science technology research and development projects.” The biggest of the three projects in question was for the development of a “big data-based crime analysis program.” The project currently has a budget of 5.2 billion won (US$4.4 million), with 1.5 billion won (US$1.3 million) to be spent in its inaugural year of 2016.

The program in question would analyze data from the police’s internal databases - including their Korea Information System of Criminal Justice Services (KICS) - along with public data and shared private data to aid in crime-related decision-making. “Shared private data” in this case refers to so-called “big data,” including any information revealed on blogs and social networking services like Facebook and Twitter.

KICS, a vast information network containing crime-related data from the police, prosecutors, Ministry of Justice, and courts, was considered highly controversial at the time of its 2010 launch.

Police have listed a “preemptive” response to crime as one of the targets of its new big data analysis-based system. Their aim is to use the program to ascertain the identities and hiding places of suspected criminals and establish categories for high crime risk areas. They also plan to conduct analyses on “potential offenders” for crimes with a particularly high risk of repeat offense.

It’s also a plan that skirts the very edges of the law. The Personal Information Protection Act currently requires consent from all entities - including individuals, the government, and companies - to the collection and processing of personal information. Exceptions are granted in cases where information is required for specific criminal investigations.

But because the new system would involve the checking of crime data and gathering of personal data for other uses not directly related to criminal investigations, it would be in violation of those personal information protections.

“The unapproved collection and use of personal information from online sources is particularly illegal,” said Lee Eun-woo, an attorney with the law firm Jihyang.

“The fact that they’re doing this out of nowhere, without any real consideration or societal discussion of such a sensitive issue, is a serious problem,” Lee said.

In response, a KNPA official said the collection of online information “is unlikely to take place according to the plan because the grounds are not clear.”

“Use of KICS information is going to be restricted to investigations on crimes involving robbery, sexual assault, and drugs, while crime prevention and prediction will simply be a matter of using statistical data to identify trends,” the official added.

By Kwon O-sung, staff reporter

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