Mandatory fingerprint registration 'unconstitutional'
By Lee Kyung-min
A recent move to revise the law mandating that the government collect and keep the fingerprints of children aged four and younger without consent of their parents is unconstitutional, a human rights organization said.
The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) protested against the motion submitted by a group of lawmakers, saying the measure is too excessive a restriction on a child's rights to self-determination. Rep. Noh Woong-rae of the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) and other lawmakers introduced the legislation in April to help boost the prompt location and rescue of a child in case of abduction, reflecting concerns the chance of having a child returned home safely becomes increasingly remote as time passes.
Currently, the National Police Agency (NPA) chief can collect and retain fingerprints of children under 18 years of age with parental consent. The government database currently stores fingerprints and photos of over 3.5 million children under 18, over 81,000 patients with mental disabilities and over 62,000 patients with dementia, accounting for 39.8 percent of the over 9.3 million subject to mandatory fingerprint registration.
The NHRC said collecting the highly sensitive personal data should be handled with great caution. “Fingerprints are biological property that can be obtained only through direct bodily contact unlike other personal data _ home addresses, resident registration and ID numbers _ and therefore requires greater attention to prevent mishandling, which could lead to grave human rights violations.”
The benefits of implementing the system do not outweigh the need to protect individual rights to self-determination, it added. “The government's move to collect and preserve the personal data of children without parental consent is too excessive an execution of authority, against the Constitutional principle to limit its exercise of power to a minimum after weighing the need to protect public safety and security.”
The measure has the justifiable objective of protecting children, it added, but other measures of identification should be used first including DNA tests. “The envisioned measure could help police facilitate location of possible abductees, but the benefits of implementation do not outweigh the need to protect individual privacy.”
According to data from the Ministry of Health and Welfare, the NPA and National Forensic Service, 19,956 cases of missing children were filed last year, a 4.3 percent decrease from the previous year. The number is on the decrease over the past five years: 19,428 in 2015 from 23,089 in 2013. Fifty-two children remain missing over the same period.