Ko Hak-soo, the chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, speaks during a meeting with reporters in Washington on April 3, 2024. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)
WASHINGTON, Apr. 3 (Korea Bizwire) — South Korea’s data protection watchdog is looking into how Chinese e-commerce firms, such as AliExpress and Temu, have been collecting and using consumer data, its chief said Wednesday, amid lingering concerns over their protection of personal information.
Ko Hak-soo, the chairperson of the Personal Information Protection Commission, made the remarks as a steady rise in South Koreans’ use of Chinese online platforms has given rise to growing questions over whether Chinese companies have sufficient measures in place to protect their data.
“We are examining (Chinese) online shopping companies and looking at the aspect of how users’ data has been collected and used,” Ko said in a meeting with Korean reporters in Washington as he was visiting the U.S. capital to attend an international conference.
The commission’s probe focuses on Chinese state and corporate rules about the handling of personal data and the process of eliciting consumers’ consent for the collection and use of their information, as well as whether collected data is managed within China and whether it flows to third countries, according to Ko.
It has been carrying out the survey by sending questionnaires to companies.
The commission is a ministerial-level central administrative agency. It formulates policies related to data privacy and supervises the application of South Korea’s data protection law.
(Yonhap)
