The Financial Services Commission moved to prepare countermeasures amid concerns about disruptions to non-face-to-face financial transactions due to the blocking of administrative information "scraping." It said it will use alternatives such as public MyData to minimize consumer inconvenience.
The Financial Services Commission said on the 12th it held a "financial sector inspection meeting on scraping blockage" at the Bankers Association building in Seoul with the Personal Information Protection Commission, financial associations, financial companies, and related agencies. Scraping is a method that automatically extracts and uses information, such as certificates, displayed on an internet screen.
Across non-face-to-face financial transactions, the financial sector has been using scraping to verify administrative-agency information to simplify consumers' submission of administrative documents. In transactions such as mortgage loans, jeonse deposit loans, opening accounts for minor children, and heir inquiries, the submission of supporting documents to confirm family relationships is verified through scraping of the Supreme Court system with the data subject's consent.
With the expansion of the right to data portability under the Personal Information Protection Act to public institutions, the existing scraping method of taking personal information without prior consultation will be restricted starting on the 20th. The Supreme Court is also pushing to restrict scraping of the family relations registration system.
The meeting was arranged to review the impact on financial services and consumers if scraping in the financial sector is restricted in line with the expanded implementation of the right to data portability and the Supreme Court's plans related to scraping.
At the meeting, while most agreed with the purpose of blocking scraping to ensure the safe protection and transmission of personal information, participants agreed that to minimize public inconvenience and social confusion, measures such as linking public MyData that can replace scraping should be sufficiently prepared in advance and implemented in stages. Public MyData is a service in which, at the request of the data subject, administrative information held by administrative agencies is provided to financial institutions and others.
The meeting also reviewed the security systems and internal controls that financial companies operate during the scraping process. The Financial Services Commission said, "We will closely consult with relevant agencies to promptly devise reasonable response measures so that the public does not experience inconvenience or damage due to scraping restrictions and financial services can be provided stably."