The Infectious/Contagious Disease and Control Act was passed following the 2015 MERS outbreak.  It functioned to limit the consumer protections enumerated under PIPA in time of infectious/contagious disease outbreak.  This legislation was key in permitting the use of big data used in the Korean contact tracing system seen in the recent Covid-19 outbreak.

University of California, Davis

Though the Constitution of the Republic of Korea strongly implies a fundamental right of personal information and data protection, government can be provided with private-sector data with a warrant in most circumstances.  Cases of national security do not require warrants. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) of 2011 stringently limits the collection, use, and disclosure of personal data without prior informed consent of the individual whose data are involved.

South Korean Government Access to Private-Sector Data

Statutes of the Republic of Korea. (2020, March 4). Korean Legislation Research Institute. https://elaw.klri.re.kr/eng_service/lawView.do?hseq=53530&lang=ENG

Infectious/Contagious Disease and Control Act

Our World in Data. 2020. Emerging COVID-19 Success Story: South Korea Learned The Lessons Of MERS. https://ourworldindata.org/covid-exemplar-south-korea     Accessed 14 July 2020.

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