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Progressive activist organizations including Sarangban Group for Human Rights hold a workshop regarding North Korea's human rights.
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Policeman charged with obtaining personal data without a warrant
A human rights activist has filed a lawsuit against the government, seeking compensation of 25 million won after it was found that a policeman without a warrant was provided his personal information by a bank. Ryu Eun-sook, a senior researcher of an institute affiliated with the activist organization Sarangbang Group for Human Rights, filed a claim yesterday against a policeman at the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency. Ryu’s petition says that the officer requested Ryu’s bank to cooperate in an investigation, and obtained his personal information from the bank, including Ryu’s name, telephone number, and address. The particular law Ryu has filed his petition under requires this information to be considered as part of ’financial transaction information.’ "It is breach of a law for financial bodies to provide such information, and a violation of privacy and freedom for judicial authorities to obtain information on financial transactions from a bank without a warrant," the petition read. When asked if personal information is directly related to financial transactions, the Financial Supervisory Service (FSS) replied, "According to the interpretation of the Ministry of Finance and Economy, it is included under information on financial transactions," and judicial authorities can demand the information only with a warrant.The recent lawsuit is important because it may put the brakes on practices by the police for obtaining personal information; the practice of obtaining data from banks without warrants is widespread. In a separate statement, the Sarangbang group took issue with alleged police investigations into human rights organizations, saying that human rights institutes are "aimed at producing progressive human rights theories." Therefore, the statement said, it is not surprising that they would "be a target of investigation by the police, who have conducted probes on so-called ’security-related criminals’ based on the National Security Law." The National Security Law is designed to punish ’enemies of the state,’ but its vague wording has allowed it to be abused by past dictatorial governments and the police. Its repeal has been called for by most on the liberal since South Korea’s democratization in the late 1980s.
