This photo provided by South Korea’s Marine Corps shows reconnaissance soldiers marching in a group.
SEOUL, June 30 (Korea Bizwire) — The state human rights watchdog has ruled that ordering military service members to install map applications and turn on GPS functions at all times for quarantine purposes infringes upon their privacy and other fundamental rights.
The National Human Rights Commission of Korea (NHRCK) announced Tuesday that requiring the use of location tracking programs and accessing location data without permission violates the service member’s right to self-determination of personal data and privacy, advising a South Korean Marine Corps’ divisional commander to take corrective measures.
The Center for Military Human Rights Korea submitted a complaint to the NHRCK early this year, accusing one of the company commanders at the said division of pressuring a service member to install Google Maps, instead of the official quarantine application offered by the Ministry of Interior and Safety, and turn on GPS tracking features even after working hours.
The NHRCK ruled against the company commander based on the U.N. Office of High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) instruction on human rights protection in the pandemic era that ‘surveillance and monitoring should be limited in both duration and scope as required in the particular situation’.
“The company commander has violated the principle of minimum infringement since the official app offered by the Ministry of Interior and Safety is enough to achieve the purpose of collecting information for preventing the spread of the pandemic,” the NHRCK said.
M. H. Lee (mhlee@koreabizwire.com)
