Citizens wearing masks walk on a street in southern Seoul on Nov. 16, 2020. (Yonhap)
SEOUL, Nov. 17 (Korea Bizwire) — Several questions from the national census that runs from October 15 to November 18 are raising controversy over possible privacy infringement.
Among the controversial questions are ones asking if ‘there are children who are dead among the children born’ and ‘when was the first marriage in case of being remarried.’
In particular, doubts have been raised if the census questions are going too far in the collection of personal information such as company name, department name, job position and area of work.
A lawmaker claimed through social media that the census questions include ones asking if couples use separate bedrooms and if they have illegitimate children, adding more fuel to the criticism over the census itself.
According to Statistics Korea, such controversial questions are not the subject of the census.
All of the answers are bound to be protected under the Statistics Law and should be kept strictly confidential. Most of the questions are recommended by the the United Nations.
Nonetheless, a large number of Internet users are still raising doubts about the adequacy of some questions, insisting that they are infringing on personal privacy.
In reality, as public awareness and sensitivity about human rights and personal information has increased, many are calling on the government to complement the census questions to better meet the changing face of Korean society.
“The census questions remain unchanged despite the change in times.” said Lee Seok-hwan, a professor of public policy at Hanyang University.
“In-depth discussions are needed to check if the census questions are useful information for the diagnosis of the issues facing society and the development of policy measures to address social issues,” he added.
J. S. Shin (js_shin@koreabizwire.com)
