ICONLOOP keeps thinking about the future.
The blockchain development company is teaming up with the think tank Yeosijae: the Future Consensus Institute to host a discussion on the coming age of digital sovereignty at the ICONLOOP office in Seoul on Feb. 20.
The talk, entitled “The Three Data-Related Laws: Could They Make Our Lives Smart?”, comes as the recent passage by South Korea’s parliament of amendments to a trio of data-related laws kicks so-called “MyData” projects into high gear and ushers in an age of individual sovereignty over personal data.
The event, which will feature presentations, a panel discussion and a question-and-answer session, will examine how these developments will bring substantive changes to our lives and look at the legal issues and tensions that could result from data protection efforts.
Last month, South Korea’s parliament passed amendments to three data-related laws, namely, the Personal Information Protection Act, the Act on the Promotion of the Use of the Information Network and Information Protection, and the Credit Information Use and Protection Act.
The government views the revisions as crucial to transforming South Korea into a “data economy” and a global powerhouse in data use, despite concerns voiced by privacy activists. Yonhap News reports:
“The three bills related to data are intended to enable the use of personal information offered under alias and processed technologically to conceal the provider’s identity, without the user’s consent, for compiling statistics and industrial research purposes.”
Financial authorities, fintech companies and other financial institutions believe the revisions enable the development of MyData projects by granting individuals ownership over their data. This then lets individuals give permission to banks, card companies and other entities to pool their credit information. Using pooled data previously scattered among several financial companies, financial institutions can now crunch big data and offer individually tailored products and services.
Or as the JoongAng Daily summed up the initiative:
“MyData is a government led trial platform that allows individuals to manage and provide personal information that has been collected from institutions and companies including financial firms, telecommunication operators and hospitals, and allow third party companies to access select data.
MyData will allow people to search and find their own personal information that has been spread across different companies.
Under the MyData project, individuals can download private information such as their medical records as well as financial assets and credit ratings and pass it on to companies that provide personal health management, or to asset managers that create customized financial products.”
Decentralized ID solutions — such as ICONLOOP”s “MyID” — help consumers navigate and take full advantage of the MyData ecosystem by enabling easier control, storage and management of their personal data.
ICONLOOP Communication Team Lead Minhwan Kim says, “As Korea government interest in self-sovereign identity grows, MyID will return the sovereignty over the personal information that has been monopolized by the platform companies to users and create an ecosystem that can receive reasonable compensation for the use of personal information.”
