개인정보보호법상 과징금의 활용에 관한 연구

Abstract

The penalty surcharges that are imposed by the Personal Information Protection Act are set at higher amounts, in accordance with the recently enforced General Data Protection Regulation(GDPR) of the EU. However the government acquires revenue that is generated from damages caused to data subjects, it is questionable whether penalty surcharges are being put to appropriate use, as intended by the Personal Information Protection Act. This is because they belong to national funds and are used in matters that are unrelated to the redress of victims or personal information protection. Building on such critical awareness, this paper aims to suggest a plan that utilizes the collected penalty surcharges in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act, to suit the legal purpose. Penalty surcharges are designed to retrieve the disgorgement of unlawful profits that occurred through violations therefore the funds collected should be spent on behalf of those data subjects who were victimized or they should be used to protect personal information, as intended by the fundamental purpose of the law. As its research, this paper first surveys the system of penalty surcharges in South Korea. Thereafter, it examines the system of penalty surcharges on the Personal Information Protection Act, the penalty surcharges imposed thus far on violations of personal Information protection in South Korea, and the relevant instances of regulation for violations of personal information protection, in Japan and in the GDPR of the EU. By exploring how the appropriate use of the penalty surcharges are conducted, this study examines special accounts or special funds in which penalty surcharges are imputed, and the uses of examples that are limited to particular purposes by law. Thereafter, the study analyzes legal characteristics of penalty surcharges on the Personal Information Protection Act, to find the appropriate use for penalty surcharges of this law. Based on such research, it is drawn that the most appropriate way forward is to specify the specific uses of the penalty surcharges on the Personal Information Protection Act. This study suggests that the legislature insert into the Personal Information Protection Act a provision that limits the use of the penalty surcharges collected, in accordance with the fundamental purpose of the Personal Information Protection Act, to subsidize the redress for damage, the victim’s litigation over breaches of personal information, and the education and promotion of personal information protection, and to finance the training of personnel and the expansion of facilities related to personal information protection.