Supreme Court: Using Lawfully Obtained Personal Information in a Civil Complaint Can Be Justified Conduct

By Juwon Kang, September 2, 2026

Court: Supreme Court, Criminal Division 2 (Presiding Justice Park Young-jae)

Case No.: 2026Do171

Decision Date: May 14, 2026

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Factual Background

The defendant, A, was the director of a kindergarten. B was the parent of a child enrolled at the kindergarten. In March 2021, when B’s child was admitted, A obtained B’s consent to collect and use personal information. In June 2022, A filed a civil damages suit against B, alleging that B had posted defamatory content about A on an online forum. In the complaint, A included B’s name and address, which had been obtained through the earlier consent form. Prosecutors charged A with violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

Lower Court Rulings

The first instance court found A guilty and imposed a fine of 1,000,000 won. The appellate court upheld the conviction but reduced the fine to 500,000 won after accepting A’s argument that the original sentence was excessive.

Supreme Court’s Decision

The Supreme Court reversed the appellate court’s ruling and remanded the case to the Uijeongbu District Court, holding that:

• A had lawfully collected B’s name and address with B’s consent, and there was no evidence of any unlawful conduct in how the information was obtained.
• While B’s name and address constituted personal information, they were not sensitive information carrying a significant risk of privacy infringement.
• The appellate court erred in its legal reasoning by failing to recognize that A’s conduct constituted justifiable conduct under the Criminal Act.

Why This Matters

This ruling clarifies the boundary between the Personal Information Protection Act and the “justifiable conduct” defense under Korea’s Criminal Act. It signals that using lawfully collected, non-sensitive personal information in litigation documents, where necessary for pursuing a legal claim, will not automatically expose a party to criminal liability under data protection law. For practitioners, this offers useful guidance when advising clients who need to include a counterparty’s personal details in pleadings: the key factors are (1) whether the information was lawfully obtained, and (2) whether its use was reasonably necessary for conducting the litigation. The decision may also inform how businesses and institutions that collect personal information under consent agreements can later use that information in legal disputes with the data subject.

Article: https://www.lawtimes.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=222808&page=2&total=25200