South Korea's National Human Rights Commission said on March 13 it recommended to the science and ICT minister that the government review its policy to make facial authentication mandatory for mobile phone activations and prepare alternative methods.

The Ministry of Science and ICT has been pushing a plan to introduce facial authentication into mobile phone activation procedures for the country's three mobile carriers and budget carriers, as financial scam crimes such as voice phishing using illegal phones have emerged as a social issue.

A pilot operation began on Dec. 23 last year and the policy is set to take effect on March 23.

The commission said smartphones are essential infrastructure used across daily life, including financial transactions and mobile identity verification, and requiring facial authentication could affect the exercise of various fundamental rights, including the right to informational self-determination, freedom of communications, freedom of expression and the right to know.

It said that unlike the Immigration Control Act and the Electronic Financial Transactions Act, which provide grounds for collecting and using biometric information, the Telecommunications Business Act has no such provisions, and it urged that they be 마련ed.

The commission said: "Biometric information is unique identifying information based on a person's physical characteristics. It is effectively difficult to change and requires stricter protection than general personal information." It added: "Before the policy takes effect, there is a need to explain in detail information on the collection and use of biometric information, and after implementation, there is a need to disclose information related to the stability of facial authentication technology."

[Yonhap News Agency]