- South Korea adds facial recognition to SIM registration to choke off scam-driven phone numbers
- Stolen personal data has made mobile fraud cheap, and regulators want higher barriers
- Telecom security failures forced government to rethink how phone accounts are approved
South Korea is moving to tighten how new mobile accounts are created by adding facial recognition to the signup process.
A new government post (via The Register) outlined how the change will reduce scams that rely on fraudulently registered phone numbers.
Under the new policy, buyers will still present official identity documents, but they will also complete a facial scan through carrier-backed mobile applications.
Data breaches push regulators toward tougher controls
The Ministry of Science and ICT argues that stolen personal data alone should no longer be enough to activate a phone line.
This policy shift follows a year marked by major data theft incidents affecting a large share of the population.
South Korea has nearly 52 million residents, and security breaches this year exposed records belonging to more than half of them.
This includes Coupang, a top ecommerce company, leaking tens of millions of customer records, triggering leadership changes, and SK Telecom also exposing sensitive data tied to its entire subscriber base.
Investigations found basic security failures, including unencrypted credentials and infrastructure details left on public servers.
Regulators responded with heavy fines and mandatory compensation for customers, increasing financial pressure on the carrier.
Authorities say stolen data fuels phone-based scams such as voice phishing, which rely on easily obtained numbers.
The government also points to mobile virtual network operators as a major source of counterfeit phone registrations, accounting for most cases detected during 2024.
Officials believe biometric checks will raise the cost and complexity of fraud, even if they do not eliminate it.
The same reasoning supports interest in alternatives like eSIM, which can limit physical SIM misuse but still depend 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 failures make public trust harder to earn.
For consumers, the process adds friction to buying a new line, especially for short-term or prepaid use.
Companies that manage large fleets of phones for business may face extra administrative steps, although regulators argue that the tradeoff is justified.
This policy reflects a view that stronger identity checks are preferable to absorbing repeated losses from weak controls, even if the approach shifts risk rather than removing it completely.
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