By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter
Police have required seven major portals to submit personal information of netizens who conducted searches using specific words related to a kidnapping case. Police said they suspect the kidnapper is among them, citing past experience. But the investigation of multiple Internet users is drawing public criticism.
Police claim it's a proven way to efficiently sort out prime suspects, while human rights activists, Internet experts and even police professors criticize it as an abuse of power. They are concerned such limitless access to private information could enable police to put every citizen under scrutiny and muzzle anti-government Internet users.
With already heating up debates over freedom in cyber space in the wake of the arrest of online commentator, Minerva, the case raises the question of how much private information sharing between portals and law enforcement can be tolerated, they say.
The police move follows the kidnapping of a female university student in Gunpo, south from Seoul, on Dec. 19. To date, what police have secured is a blurred image of the suspected kidnapper from an ATM camera.
Last Thursday police asked the nation's top seven portals to share information of those who searched their news services using five specific terms related to the crime ㅡ Gunpo, Ansan, missing, kidnapping and the victim's surname. An Ansan court issued a search warrant on the Web site operators the same day.
Police said it had already received information on 19,000 users from a portal operator. With additional submissions expected, police plan to trace those using the terms repeatedly.
``In many cases, criminals tend to monitor crimes they committed through the Internet. There are some cases resolved in this way. With no progress in the investigation being made, this is one way for a breakthrough,'' a police officer said.
Na Won-oh, the investigator in charge of the case, said ``We know in the first stage at least thousands of people will be subject to investigation. But it's a matter of time to sort out a few prime suspects.''
Many citizens see it as an undue collection of private information.
``Although police stress its necessary for the investigation, I think they went too far,'' said Lee Dong-hyun, a resident in Seoul.
Portal operators are also reluctant to share the information for fear of a users' backlash.
``It's uncertain whether the criminal accessed the Web using the terms,'' said a portal operator who refused to be identified. ``If the information is delivered relying on police's presumption, users will lose confidence in the portals, resulting in shrinking Internet use.''
Prof. Lee Su-jung, at Kyomggi University's criminal psychology department, said, ``Even though it has been proven to be an effective tool, it is still risky.''
About 20 members of a human rights group staged a rally in front of Gyeonggi Provincial Police Agency, where the investigation headquarters is located in, to call for a stop in compiling additional information.