- South Korea adds facial recognition to SIM card registration to block fraudulent phone numbers
- Stolen identities have made mobile fraud cheap and regulators require higher barriers
- Telecom security failures have forced the government to rethink how phone bills are approved
South Korea is looking to tighten up how new mobile accounts are created by adding facial recognition to the registration process.
New government mail (by using Register) outlined how this change will reduce the number of scams based on fraudulently registered phone numbers.
Under the new policy, shoppers will still present official identification documents, but they will also undergo facial scanning using carrier-supported mobile apps.
Data leaks prompt regulators to tighten controls
The Ministry of Science and Information Technology claims that stolen personal data alone is no longer enough to activate a telephone line.
This shift in policy follows a year marked by major data theft incidents affecting large parts of the population.
South Korea is home to nearly 52 million people, and security breaches this year have exposed records belonging to more than half of them.
This includes Coupang, top e-commerce company, leak of tens of millions of customer recordscausing a change in leadership and SK Telecom also discloses confidential data tied to its entire subscriber base.
Investigations revealed major security breaches, including unencrypted credentials and infrastructure details left on public servers.
Regulators responded with large fines and mandatory compensation for customers, increasing financial pressure on the carrier.
Authorities say the stolen data facilitates phone scams such as voice phishing that rely on easily obtained numbers.
The government also points to mobile virtual network operators as the main source of counterfeit phone registrations, which account for the majority of cases detected in 2024.
Officials believe biometric checks will increase the cost and complexity of fraud, even if they don't eliminate it.
The same reasoning supports interest in alternatives such as For examplewhich can limit misuse of the physical SIM card, but still relies on secure identity verification.
Facial verification raises questions about how biometric data is stored, protected and verified over time.
The three largest operators in South Korea, SK Telecom, LG Uplus and Korea Telecom use an app called PASS that stores these credentials, but recent security failures have made it difficult to gain public trust.
For consumers, this process makes purchasing a new line more difficult, especially for short-term or prepaid use.
Companies managing large fleets business phones may face additional administrative measures, although regulators say the trade-off is worth it.
This policy reflects the view that stricter identity checks are preferable to absorbing repeated losses from weak controls, even if such an approach shifts the risk rather than eliminating it entirely.
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