Personal Information Protection Commission

Press Release

The PIPA Amendment Bill for AI Development Passed at the National Assembly Plenary Meeting 

- The PIPC establishes a lawful basis for using personal information for AI development in the public interest 

- The use of personal information is subject to enhanced privacy safeguarding measures and the PIPC’s deliberation and resolution

August 20, 2026

(This is an unofficial translation of a press release, originally prepared in Korean.)

The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced that the National Assembly passed a bill amending the Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) on August 20, 2026. The amendment bill was drafted for special provisions tailored to artificial intelligence (AI) development and innovation.

Practitioners have consistently called for securing high-quality datasets to train AI models. High-quality datasets should be done promptly from a wide range of sources to gain competitive edge in the AI industry. However, under the current legal framework, the use of personal information lawfully collected by obtaining individual consent from data subjects, or for the performance of a contract beyond the initial purpose, requires a lawful basis or separate individual consent from data subjects. Also, AI developers should use personal information in pseudonymized or anonymized forms, which can pose practical challenges in developing AI models.

To address such challenges, the regulatory sandbox program has been operating to enable innovative services, such as AI-based voice phishing prevention and the development of self-driving robots, to use video or voice data containing personal information. A special regulatory sandbox program for products and services that use emerging technologies, exempt from administrative dispositions under certain conditions. However, tentative approval is granted to businesses and entities deemed to have reviewed and implemented privacy safeguarding measures over two to four years.

In addition, the use of personal information is directly associated with the exercise of rights of the Korean people. In this context, regulatory exemptions under each legal framework for industry promotion have not been sufficient for privacy safeguards, calling for the establishment of a legal basis within the general legal framework dedicated to supervising personal information protection.

In this context, the amendment bill establishes special provisions to allow the use of lawfully collected personal information for AI development beyond the existing lawful bases specified in the PIPA. Under the new special provisions, the use of personal information in cases where:

● The development of AI is difficult or substantially limited when relying on only pseudonymized or anonymized data; or 

● The use of personal information is necessary for AI development in the public interest.

Such use would be subject to enhanced privacy safeguarding measures and the PIPC would oversee and deliberate on compliance with these requirements.

The amendment bill also includes safeguards to minimize potential privacy risks. Where data controllers process sensitive data or uniquely identifiable information (UII) that may have a significant impact on the exercise of data subjects' rights, they should conduct a risk assessment and develop improvement plans to mitigate identified risks. In addition, businesses or entities seeking to use personal information under the AI-specific special provisions should disclose such data processing practices in their privacy policy or statement. The PIPC, as a supervisory authority, should disclose the operational status of special provisions for AI development in a transparent manner.

In order to make the special provisions more effective and provide timely support for technological development for AI, the PIPC will streamline the review process for AI technologies or services that are technically identical or similar to cases previously reviewed to ease administrative burdens and facilitate the timely development and launch of AI powered services or products.

The amendment bill has been integrated and adjusted at the National Assembly Policy Committee, building upon the drafts of two policymakers. Following review by the National Assembly’s Legislation and Judiciary Committee, the bill was passed at the plenary meeting on August 20, 2026.

The amendment bill will take effect six months after promulgation, following its submission and deliberation by the Cabinet Meeting. Prior to its entry into force, the PIPC will gather feedback and input from experts and practitioners to develop plans for implementing AI specific special provisions and to establish subordinate legislation aligned with the purpose of the amendment to the PIPA.

Chairperson Kyung Hee Song said, “Introducing special provisions for AI aims to provide a reasonable framework for unlocking the potential of personal information use in an era when AI development leads to national competitiveness. At the same time, it allows the government and businesses come up with a supervision and management plan through close cooperation.” She added, “Going forward, the PIPC will strive to lay an institutional groundwork for bringing innovation in AI technology as well as safeguarding the privacy of the Korean people.”

* A PDF file, formatted for better readability, is attached.