South Korea immigration facial data sharing

Documents released by South Korea's government reveal the country's Ministry of Justice has been sharing the facial images and personal details of travellers using Seoul's Incheon International Airport with local commercial companies.

The data involves approximately 170 million travellers, and was obtained without their consent, and is being shared to help develop a government system for screening and identifying travellers.

South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act determines that the sharing of sensitive personal data with third parties requires the specific and separate consent of the data subject.

Local civil liberty activists have threatened to take the government to court on the issue.