Public management information systems and the issue of privacy: a case study on the electronic id card project in South Korea

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to consider privacy concerns regarding South Korea's electronic ID card project. In 1996 the South Korean government proposed the world's first computerized personal information system project called the "Electronic Identification Card Project", but the government withdrew from the electronic ID card project in 1999 in the wake of heavy protest. Computerization of information has brought so much convenience to our everyday routine that it is virtually impossible to think of life without it. Within the background of the importance of computerization, I will highlight the main features of this electronic ID card project and its impact on the privacy issue.