Under

changes to Location Information Act, to take effect in October 2018, businesses

will be allowed to track goods after obtaining registration instead of license.

The

Korean National Assembly has passed amendments to the Act on Protection, Use

Etc. of Location Information (the Location

Information Act or LIA) that

will soon allow the online tracking – collection and handling of location data

via telecom network – of objects (as distinct from location data of

individuals) upon obtaining only a fairly straightforward registration for

“location information business”. Under the current LIA, in order to collect

location data of objects – as well as location data of individuals – a business

must first obtain a location information businesslicense from the Korea Communications Commission (KCC), which is a

quite involved process and subject to significant agency discretion. Under the

amended LIA, online collecting location data of objects, as such, will require

only the simpler, straightforward process of registration with the KCC, though

collecting location data of people will remain subject to the license

requirement. Further, the content of the application for registration will be

streamlined, as compared with an existing procedure for “location based

services” registration.

The

amendments, passed on March 30, 2018 and promulgated on April 17, 2018, will

take effect as from October 18, 2018. Under one part of the amended provisions,

certain types of enterprises, such as small start-up companies, will be

permitted to engage in object tracking without registration for a grace period

of one-month after the start of such business.

The

immediate impact of the amendments may be muted, in that at present the

large-scale telecom-enabled tracking of objects tends to involve, at the same

time, location data of individuals, for example in the case of smartphones.

Those types of businesses have required a location information business

license, and they will continue to require such a license in any event, in

respect of the location data of individuals.

However, the amended LIA will, for example, present a

significantly easier environment for the possibility of drone delivery systems.

(Indeed, parameters for distribution by drone were mentioned among the

rationales for the amendments.) While under the current LIA the online tracking

of drone deliveries would require the cumbersome process of a license from the

KCC, starting in October of this year the delivery method would entail only a

registration. There is also, certainly, a range of potential implications for

IoT business models.