SOUTH KOREA Law and Practice Contributed by: Brian Tae-Hyun Chung, Haewon Han, Jung-Chull Lee and Ari Yoon, Kim & Chang
Surveillance Devices Installing surveillance devices, such as CCTV, in the workplace requires labour-management consultation according to the Act on the Promotion of Workers’ Participation and Co-Operation. Employers must not use CCTV audio recording functions and are required to install signboards (or equivalent notices) disclosing the fact of filming and its scope. Data Retention Employers must retain employee data for a specific period as mandated by the Labour Standards Act. Transparency Employers must include details of employees’ per - sonal information processing in their privacy policy and make it easily accessible to employees. Also, in terms of sharing employees’ personal infor - mation with affiliates outside Korea, data controllers must pay close attention to the legal requirements explained in 5.1 Restrictions on International Data Transfers . 4.4 Data Protection in M&A Regarding data protection in M&A, general principles and regulations of the PIPA apply. For example, data transfer to third parties, as detailed in 5.1 Restrictions on International Data Transfers , typically involves either third-party provision or delegation of process - ing. Transferring personal information in the course of M&A is likely to be considered as third-party provision. While the PIPA generally requires consent from data subjects to provide personal information to a third party, it includes a specific provision regarding the transfer of personal data during asset deals. If a data controller transfers personal information as part of a business transfer or a merger involving all or part of its operations, the controller must notify the data sub - jects in advance about the following, and a consent requirement is exempted: • the fact that their personal information will be transferred; • the name, address, telephone number and other contact information of the recipient of the personal information; and
to such children under the age of 14, data control - lers must use simple and clear language and formats. Separately, the “Guidelines to Protection of Children and Youth Personal Information (December 2024)” published by the PIPC require minimising targeted ads based on children’s behavioural data, providing clear prior notice and obtaining consent. If data controllers serve targeted ads by combining behavioural data and personal information of children under 14, they must obtain prior consent from the child’s legal guardian. 4.3 Employment Privacy Law There are no specific regulations or considerations exclusively for processing employees’ personal infor - mation; instead, the general provisions of the PIPA apply. The PIPC’s “Guidelines for Protection of Per - sonal Information by Field (December 2024)”, under the “HR/Labour” section, provides some guidance on processing personal information related to hiring and employment. Key details include the following. Processing Employee Data in a Job Application Context Under the Hiring Procedures Act, employers may collect only the personal information strictly neces - sary for hiring, and must not collect information unre - lated to job duties. They may process such minimal information without the applicant’s consent, but they must obtain explicit consent before collecting sensi - tive information or unique identification information. If collecting sensitive information or unique identifi - cation information is unavoidable, employers must obtain separate consent from the applicant. Criminal Background Under the Act on the Lapse of Criminal Sentences, employers are restricted to a certain extent when col - lecting applicants’ criminal records. Monitoring of Employees When the legal basis for collecting and using employ - ees’ personal information for monitoring purposes is unclear, employers must obtain the employees’ con - sent. In such cases, employers must ensure truly vol - untary consent, considering the inherent imbalance in labour-management relations.
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