South Korea

The risks of artificial intelligence and the response of Korean civil society
The risks of artificial intelligence and the response of Korean civil society 05 March 2024 Byoung-il Oh

As South Koreans embrace artificial intelligence in daily life, the country is becoming a test case of the “allow first, regulate later” approach to AI regulation. This piece outlines some of the controversial AI-related cases and the need to publicise the dangers of unchecked AI.

Controversial Cases on AI in Republic of Korea
Controversial Cases on AI in Republic of Korea 12 January 2024 Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet

In South Korea, there have been cases where automatic algorithms and AI have raised concern about the negative impact on human rights. In this research, the Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet presents in detail some of the cases that have sparked controversy in Korean society.

Protecting civil rights against corporate surveillance in South Korea
Protecting civil rights against corporate surveillance in South Korea 15 May 2023 Byoung-il Oh for GenderIT.org

Google has been giving access to users' personal information to the US government under its PRISM programme. Six activists in South Korea took the tech giant to court demanding they be given access to the information that Google holds on them, and won.

International coalition to support filing of a suit to stop South Korea’s shutdown of womenonweb.kr
International coalition to support filing of a suit to stop South Korea’s shutdown of womenonweb.kr 10 March 2022 Various

In December 2020, the Korea Communication Standards Commission issued a ruling to block access to womenonweb.kr, a website that provides information on women’s sexual and reproductive health and rights. The undersigned organisations support Open Net’s filing of a suit to cancel this ruling.

Open Net
Open Net 22 October 2021

Open Net is aspiring to become not only a legal and legislative advocacy organisation that fights regulations, but also a think tank that inquires into the reasons for these regulations and “thinks aloud” with the Korean public and the world on what can be done to prevent the internet from becoming a “closed” circuit for some people, instead of an “open network”. Open Net aims to pr...

Seeding change: Jinbonet on South Korea’s epidemic prevention and ways to minimise privacy infringements
Seeding change: Jinbonet on South Korea’s epidemic prevention and ways to minimise privacy infringements 08 September 2021 APCNews

How are APC members improving their communities’ lives with the support of APC subgranting? With South Korea actively responding to the COVID-19 pandemic, Jinbonet has worked on analysing the country’s epidemic prevention policies and systems, and their effects on human rights and privacy.

Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee initiates collective mediation between Facebook and its users in South Korea
Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee initiates collective mediation between Facebook and its users in South Korea 20 July 2021 Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet

APC member organisation Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet, in cooperation with the law firm Jihyang, responded to the abuse of personal information by Facebook by bringing this case to the Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee.

COVID-19 and the Right to Privacy: An analysis of South Korean experiences
COVID-19 and the Right to Privacy: An analysis of South Korean experiences 09 December 2020 Byoung-il Oh, Yeokyung Chang and SeonHwa Jeong

This new report jointly published by the Korean Progressive Network Jinbonet and the Institute for Digital Rights summarises digital rights violations during the response to COVID-19 in South Korea.

In the era of COVID-19, is South Korea’s "new normal" a digital surveillance state?
In the era of COVID-19, is South Korea’s "new normal" a digital surveillance state? 16 June 2020 Network of Human Rights Organizations in response to COVID-19, South Korea

South Korea succeeded in epidemic prevention because it conducted active inspections based on tracking the whereabouts of confirmed patients. However, it should not be forgotten that behind the scenes is an electronic monitoring system that allows our every move to be tracked at any time.

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