News and developments
Landmark Ruling: Supreme Court Overturns PIPC Sanctions Against E-commerce Platform Operators
In a recent case, the Supreme Court has overturned the sanctions imposed by the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) against major online marketplaces, Naver (South Korea’s leading internet platform company) and Gmarket (formerly eBay Korea). This pivotal case clarified that sellers on e-commerce intermediary platforms (the E-commerce Seller) are not considered ‘personal information managers’ of the platforms providing intermediary sales services (the E-commerce Platform) under the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA). This ruling marks a transformative moment for privacy law enforcement related to E-commerce Platforms in South Korea.
In this article, we will delve into the details of the Supreme Court’s decision and discuss its broader impact on the e-commerce landscape.
- Overview of the Case
- Summary of the Supreme Court’s Ruling
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- a ‘personal information manager’ is not limited to those who have an employment contract with a data controller. It includes any person who, under laws or contractual terms, acts under the direction and supervision of a data controller to carry out certain tasks;
- “third parties,” who receive personal information from data controllers and utilize it for their own business purposes and benefits, are distinct from and cannot coexist with personal information managers; and
- the E-commerce Sellers receive personal information of buyer members from the E-commerce Platform operators and process that information according to their own discretion for their business operations. They are thus ‘data controllers’ and ‘third parties’ themselves rather than ‘personal information managers’ of the E-commerce Platform operators.
- Significance of the Supreme Court’s Ruling