[Opinion] Communication Record Access

Certain students in the Gwangju area used their mobile phones to cheat during the 2005 national scholastic achievement examination for the college entrance. Students with high scores, called “players,” sent the answers to the “relay squad” through their mobile phones, who then sent text messages to the “beneficiary students.” The police was able to get to the root of the case by accessing the text message records that the mobile communication companies had kept. The police requested information regarding all the text messages sent that day that consisted of numbers, and as a result of analyzing them, was able to establish the fact that the same thing had happened in Seoul as well.

Aftermath–

Afterwards, mobile phone users called in a volley of protests, asking, “Why do the companies have their customers’ private information?” Taken aback, the mobile communication companies discontinued keeping records of the contents of text messages. The investigation authorities asked the companies to continue keeping records, but the answer was negative. The only exception is the record of when a text message was sent to a certain number which is kept for six months for billing purposes.

In the case of wired or wireless phones, or Internet lines that employers open, manage, and pay the bills for, can the employer access the communication statements or email contents? The Ministry of Information and Communication says that though it is technically possible, it is not allowed. Except for cases in which prior agreements have been made with the employer to check the contents of employee e-mails for business confidentiality purposes, the Communication Security Protection Act says that the no party has the right to violate an individual’s communication security.

The Kim Dae-jung government’s National Intelligence Services (NIS) advertised, “It is technically impossible to bug mobile phones,” and filed a lawsuit against Dong-A Ilbo journalists who reported mobile phone wiretapping incidents; but the reporters turned out to be right. The NIS had individually developed mobile phone tapping equipment and two former NIS directors were found guilty regarding wiretapping charges. Suspicions are rising that a presidential secretary illegally accessed the telephone records of Yoo Jin-ryong, former vice-minister of Culture and Tourism.

In order to access communication statements, a permit requested by a public prosecutor and given by a judicial officer is required. If the presidential secretary illegally accessed communication records, this means that a national offense equal to wiretapping has been committed. The truth must be revealed.

Heo Seung-ho, Editorial Writer, tigera@donga.com