- South Korea adds facial recognition to SIM card registration to snuff out fraudulent phone numbers
- Personal data theft has made mobile fraud cheap, and regulators want higher barriers
- Telecommunications security breaches have forced the government to rethink how phone accounts are approved
South Korea is set to toughen up the way new mobile accounts are created by adding facial recognition to the sign-up process.
A new government position (via The register) explained how the change would reduce scams based on fraudulently registered phone numbers.
Under the new policy, buyers will continue to present official ID documents, but they will also complete a facial scan through mobile apps supported by the operator.
Data breaches push regulators toward tighter controls
The Ministry of Science and ICT says stolen personal data alone should no longer be enough to activate a phone line.
This policy change follows a year marked by significant incidents of data theft affecting a large part of the population.
South Korea has a population of nearly 52 million, and security breaches this year revealed the records belonging to more than half of them.
This includes Coupang, a leading e-commerce company, which leaked tens of millions of customer records, triggering management changes, and SK Telecom also exposing sensitive data linked to its entire subscriber base.
Investigations revealed basic security flaws, including unencrypted credentials and infrastructure details left on public servers.
Regulators responded by imposing heavy fines and mandatory compensation on customers, increasing financial pressure on the carrier.
Authorities say stolen data fuels phone scams such as voice phishing, which relies on easy-to-obtain numbers.
The government also points to virtual mobile network operators as a major source of counterfeit phone records, accounting for most cases detected in 2024.
Officials say biometric checks will increase the cost and complexity of fraud, even if they don’t eliminate it.
The same reasoning supports interest in alternatives like eSIM, which can limit misuse of the physical SIM card but still rely on secure identity verification.
Facial verification raises questions about how biometric data is stored, protected and audited over time.
South Korea’s three major carriers, SK Telecom, LG Uplus and Korea Telecom, use an app called PASS that stores these credentials, but recent security breaches make it harder for the public to trust it.
For consumers, the process adds difficulty to purchasing a new line, especially for short-term or prepaid use.
Companies that manage large fleets of phones for business purposes could face additional paperwork, even if regulators say the tradeoff is justified.
This policy reflects the idea that stronger identity controls are preferable to absorbing repeated losses from weak controls, even if the approach shifts risk rather than removing it completely.
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