Lack of Caution with Private Information
Lack of Caution with Private Information
  • Reporter Kim Jin-Seong
  • 승인 2023.03.01 21:03
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▲Private information protection / CCTV NEWS
▲Private information protection / CCTV NEWS

 In modern society, new types of crimes appear every day and voice phishing is one of them. With voice phishing, the criminal usually makes up a story to keep the victim off guard and at some point requests private information regarding money. Victims sometimes fall for this bluffing. There are some people who sense the call is voice phishing and vent their anger at the criminal. Unfortunately, most criminals already know the target victim’s address and phone number. Often, they will take revenge by ordering food for delivery with a deferred payment. This is just one example of what can occur when people lose their private information.
 At the point when people lose their private information, they could possibly fall victim to many kinds of crimes on any occasion. Unfortunately, most Koreans have already given away their personal information since modern Korean society demands resident registration numbers, email addresses, phone numbers, and home addresses too often. Back in the 2000s, resident registration numbers have been used in almost every field. Until 2014, when most of the request for resident registration numbers was forbidden, people had to provide resident registration numbers to make a new account in the PC room or to sign up for a membership at the gym. 
 There are a lot of things that people can do using the resident registration numbers and the same applies to criminals. The criminal can find out the birthdate, gender, and specific place of birth with the numerical rules. Furthermore, criminals can pass themselves off as victims since resident registration numbers are used for personal identification purposes in Korea. For example, criminals can print account summaries of a credit card or get contactless loans using resident registration numbers and ID cards. In 2021, some people lost up to 100 million KRW when criminals abused contactless loans.
 Now that the internet is developed to a high level and utilized in various cases, The New York Times pointed out that “email address have become a digital breadcrumb for companies to link your activity across sites. Think before sharing it.” With an email address, experts can track one’s web activity and find out the place of origin, ethnicity, browsing history, etc. Michael Priem, the chief executive of Modern Impact, said “I can take your email address and find data you may not have even realized you have given to a brand.” 
 In the 2010s public awareness rose, and the government acted about resident registration numbers, which were widely used but unchangeable. Both the public and government prevented the leaking of resident registration numbers by narrowing down the scope of uses like the Social Security Number in the U.S. In 2014, a ban on collecting resident registration numbers was enforced. In 2017, if the victims suffer from the leakage of their resident registration number, they can change their resident registration number. Now, people can change their resident registration numbers through an online application, and it only takes 90 days.
 Unlike resident registration numbers, where Korea had a model worthy of reference, leakage of email addresses and being targeted by advertising companies is a problem in both Korea and the US. The New York Times suggested three methods to prevent advertising companies from targeting someone. People could create a bunch of email addresses, use email-masking tools such as the Hide My Email tool, or just opt-out sites.