Asked about the types of personal data they were most reluctant to share, adults pointed to unique identifiers such as resident registration numbers. (Image created by AI/ChatGPT)
SEOUL, April 1 (Korea Bizwire) — More than seven in ten South Koreans view the potential privacy risks associated with artificial intelligence (AI) as serious, according to a new national survey released Sunday by the Personal Information Protection Commission.
The 2024 Personal Data Protection and Utilization Survey, conducted between September and December of last year, gathered responses from 3,000 citizens aged 14 to 79, as well as data processors at 1,200 public institutions and 6,000 private-sector organizations. The findings underscore mounting public unease about the intersection of AI and personal privacy.
Among respondents, 76.1 percent of adults and 76.2 percent of teens said they believe the privacy risks posed by AI are “serious.” Over 70 percent in both groups also emphasized the importance of transparency regarding how AI services handle personal data.
Meanwhile, more than 90 percent of both adults and teens agreed that personal data protection is fundamentally important. However, when it comes to actual behavior, fewer than 60 percent of adults (55.4 percent) and just 37.4 percent of teens reported reading consent terms when providing personal data—largely citing dense and hard-to-understand language as the reason.
Asked about the types of personal data they were most reluctant to share, adults pointed to unique identifiers such as resident registration numbers, while teens were more concerned about revealing basic personal details.
In terms of institutional safeguards, the survey found that 99.5 percent of public agencies had implemented data protection measures, compared to 59.9 percent of private companies. Government bodies most frequently cited internal data management plans (97.7 percent), access rights management (81.9 percent), and access controls (76.8 percent) as key tools for privacy protection.
In contrast, private-sector firms focused more narrowly on malware prevention strategies (36.7 percent) and internal oversight mechanisms (25.7 percent).
When asked about needed government policy directions, public institutions favored the development and distribution of privacy-protecting technologies (65.7 percent), while private companies called for balanced policies that enable both protection and utilization of personal data (27.5 percent).
Ko Eun-young, Director of Planning and Coordination at the Personal Information Protection Commission, said the results will inform improvements to legislation, institutional frameworks, and technical support. “We will use this data to strengthen oversight and advance policy toward building a more trusted data society,” she said.
Lina Jang (linajang@koreabizwire.com)
