By Lee Hyo-sik
Portals and online shopping malls will be banned from “needlessly” collecting customers’ personal information and storing it for an extended period of time, the Fair Trade Commission (FTC) said Monday.
The move is to help prevent customer data held by online companies from being leaked following the massive leakage of customer information by credit card companies in January of last year.
The anti-trust agency said it ordered 20 online businesses to correct their policies concerning the collection, storage and use of their customers’ private information.
They include three web portal operators ― Naver, Daum Kakao and SK Communication ― and 17 companies operating websites, such as Lotte Shopping, E-Mart, Home plus, Interpark, E-Bay Korea, Coupang, WeMakePrice, GS Homeshopping and Hyundai Homeshopping.
The FTC decided to stop companies from collecting personal data from those seeking to sign up on their websites in the name of identity confirmation.
“It is not necessary to confirm the identity of people who join a website,” an FTC official said. “But companies indiscriminately ask users to provide their private information for identity confirmation. This significantly increases consumers’ inconvenience.”
Websites are ordered to collect personal information only from those who agree to it, she said, adding that they can confirm the user identity only when consumers make payments.
The FTC also required websites to notify customers of whether or not they share customer data with third-parties.
“The majority of online businesses do not inform users even when they share customer information with other businesses. This clearly violates the Information Telecommunication Law,” the official said. “We obliged websites to seek consent from customers when sharing private information with third parties, and give a notice in advance.”
The anti-trust agency also mandated website operators not to store customer information beyond a certain period of time in accordance with the laws. Companies are ordered to abolish policies, which are often used as an excuse to evade responsibility when customer data leaks.
“Our latest measures will help lessen the possibility of customer information leakage and make it more convenient for consumers to purchase goods online,” the official said. “We will continue to monitor the policies of websites and take more steps to strengthen the protection of private information in cyberspace.”