개인정보자기결정권의 제한과 전자여권

Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea has recently announced that E-Passport will be issued to Korean public officials including diplomats for test version for the first half of the year 2008 and to the general public for the second half of the year. According to the explanation of the Foreign Ministry, the introduction of the E-Passport will be expected to speed up the immigration procedure compared to the use of the regular passport, along with the reduction of the relevant cost for nearly 100 billion won. However, given the fundamental changes taking place in the US since 9/11, it seems the real reason behind the introduction of the E-Passport in Korea is to join the Visa Waiver Program (VWP) of the US. The problem is that private information can be revealed widely as the passport reader will scan the chip inside the E-Passport on remote. As Article 7 of the Passport Act requires the description of basic information for each passport which includes resident registration number, fingerprinting and criminal records, it is highly likely that private information will be leaked. In this regard, it cannot be denied that the introduction of the E-Passport is likely to be unconstitutional in terms of the right of self-determination of information. In the case of the registration number, as all relevant private information files are established in accordance with the registration number, it is likely that all Korean citizens are subject to serveillance and control by the government. Leaked private information will likely to be used for criminal purposes as widely found in many foreign countries. Moreover, considering the fact that fingerprinting is one of the most effective means to prove one’s identity and physically-related information, requirement of the fingerprinting for all citizens traveling abroad would be more serious. Providing such sensitive information as criminal records to a foreign country on the basis of the agreement on sharing information about travellers would also be problematic in light of the limitation on basic human rights of people. From the perspective of the pursuit of balanced relevant norms and principles, the question of whether providing private information for the purpose of administration and criminal investigation will be compatible with the protection of the right of self-determination of information and the question of whether there will be more flexible approach to coordinate the conflicting interests will be the core issue. The newly introduced E-Passport system appears to be short of the principle of the prohibiton of excessive control and balanced legal interests. Furthermore, providing criminal records would be more desirable by means of Passport Act rather than separate agreement with foreign countries. Even in the case of the conclusion of the agreement on sharing information about travellers, such agreement must be subject to ratification by the Korean National Assembly in accordance with Article 60 (1) of the Constitution.