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An example of facial recognition technology (Getty Images Korea)

The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) is putting the brakes on the government’s indiscriminate collection of the public’s facial data and its use in policies.

“Facial recognition technology risks infringing on the confidentiality and freedom of privacy and on freedom of assembly and association,” NHRCK said on Jan. 12.

On Wednesday, NHRCK also expressed to the prime minister and speaker of the National Assembly the need to “push forward legislation in a way that basic rights are not violated.”

NHRCK also made a recommendation to the prime minister for the government to, until relevant laws are ready, establish and implement a moratorium to prevent the government from introducing and utilizing real-time remote facial recognition technology in public spaces.

The recommendations and opinions of the NHRCK come amidst major ministries and local governments promoting the introduction of facial recognition technology in recent years without taking the violation of basic rights into consideration.

For example, in 2021, the government provided around 170 million facial photos of South Koreans and foreigners to private companies in the name of developing artificial intelligence for immigration screening. Similarly, Bucheon’s municipal government caused major controversy when it pushed for the use of a system based on facial recognition technology to track the movements of people who tested positive for COVID-19.

The NHRCK recommended that real-time facial recognition technology should be prohibited as a rule, stressing that real-time remote facial recognition technology should “only be used in extremely exceptional circumstances based on clear and imminent public interest grounds (such as searching for missing children).”

In 2021, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights voiced profound concerns about the dangers of real-time remote facial recognition technology, recommending that countries should suspend its use in public settings.

The South Korean National Assembly has yet to hold concrete discussions toward eliminating risk factors associated with facial recognition technology. The NHRCK stressed the need to legislate requirements for a “human rights impact assessment” ahead of time to assuage concerns that facial recognition technology may violate basic rights.

“If the human rights impact assessment shows the facial recognition systems in question to pose risks of significantly affecting human rights, we will need the law to establish concrete procedures for halting their development and use and making public the associated content and findings,” the NHRCK urged.

By Chai Yoon-tae, staff reporter

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