Three Major Telecom Operators Voluntarily Revise Unfair Contract Terms... Amend Exemption Clauses for Personal Data Breaches

Uniform Exemption for "Unencrypted Wi-Fi" Abolished
No More Automatic Exemption for Service Outages

From now on, when personal information breaches or hacking incidents occur while using telecommunications services, the unfair practice of carriers unconditionally evading responsibility or shifting the burden to users through unfair contract terms will be completely rectified.

Yonhap News Agency

The Fair Trade Commission announced on August 6 that after reviewing the telecommunications service terms and conditions of the three major telecom operators—SK Telecom, KT, and LG Uplus—it had improved four types of unfair contract clauses, such as those regarding exemptions from liability for personal information and limits to damages compensation, by having the companies voluntarily correct them.

According to the main improvements, the telecom operators have now eliminated contract clauses that previously exempted them across the board from liability for information leaks caused by issues such as unencrypted wireless sections (Wi-Fi) or private branch exchange hacking. The terms have been amended so that carriers are now held accountable according to their intentional acts or negligence.

The clause that previously limited the carriers' liability for damages from unauthorized use of user IDs or passwords to only "intentional acts or gross negligence" has also been amended. Going forward, telecom operators will also be liable to compensate for damages resulting from general "negligence."

In the case of service disruptions like network outages, the problematic clause that used to fully exempt telecom operators from liability simply because a portion of the fault was attributed to the user has been revised so that compensation will now be reduced according to the actual degree of responsibility.

Additionally, the "implied consent" clause—whereby if a user did not express their intent within a certain period after being informed of changes to the terms or contract termination, it was considered as consent—has been modified. Now, such consent will only be deemed valid if the company explicitly notifies the user that "failure to refuse will be regarded as consent."

An official from the Fair Trade Commission stated, "We have significantly strengthened the security and management responsibilities of telecom operators with vast amounts of personal data," and added, "We will continue to monitor for unfair contract terms in sectors that closely impact daily life."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.