Your passport number and Alien Registration number (ARC) are 'unique identifying information' that the law treats more strictly, and a leak can lead to telecom or financial identity theft. Here's a privacy checklist for foreigners.
Three principles
- Purpose and minimal collection: give only the minimum needed; you can refuse excessive requests
- Special care for unique IDs: passport, ARC, and license numbers require separate consent and security
- Verification codes are like passwords: never share 6-digit SMS or OTP codes
Where to get help
Korea's Personal Information Protection Act protects foreigners as 'data subjects' too. Report privacy violations to the KISA center at 118, and the Danuri Helpline at 1577-1366 (multilingual, 24/7) handles general foreigner support.
Privacy checklist for Korean verification and document submission