🔒 Privacy Training
Privacy training is a little different from other subjects. No provision imposes a fine just because you skipped training, but any company that handles personal information must include a training plan in its internal management plan and actually carry it out.
The critical moment is a data breach. Whether you trained your employees then becomes the basis for judging whether you met your security measures obligation, so your training records are your defense.
Legal requirements at a glance
Legal basis: Article 28 of the Personal Information Protection Act (Supervision of Personal Information Handlers) · Article 30 of its Enforcement Decree · Article 4 of the Standards for Measures Ensuring the Safety of Personal Information (Personal Information Protection Commission notice)
| Audience | Every company that processes personal information (personal information controller), regardless of headcount. Those covered are personal information handlers, such as employees, dispatched workers, and part-time workers who handle personal information, along with the Chief Privacy Officer. |
|---|---|
| Frequency | The law says only “regularly.” You must set the training purpose, audience, content, and schedule in your internal management plan and carry it out as written, so most companies set it at least once a year. |
| Hours · Format | There is no statutory minimum number of hours and no restriction on format. In-person and online both qualify. |
| Small-business exception | Small businesses that process the data of fewer than 10,000 individuals may omit the internal management plan, but the training obligation itself does not go away. |
| Fines | There is no fine for failing to hold training as such. But training is a required item in the internal management plan, so not following the plan can be treated as a breach of the security measures obligation (Article 29). Fines for violating Article 29 go up to KRW 30 (≈ US$1) million, and since September 11, 2026 they have risen to KRW 9 million (≈ US$6,730) for a first offense, KRW 18 million (≈ US$13,500) for a second, and KRW 30 million (≈ US$22,400) for a third or later. |
| Penalty surcharge | If personal information is leaked, the company is subject to a penalty surcharge of up to 3% of total revenue (unless it had fully implemented the required security measures). |
| Records | There is no statutory retention period, but you should keep a record (date, attendees, content) showing that training was delivered as set out in your internal management plan. It is your evidence if an incident occurs. |
What the training must cover
The law does not prescribe training topics, but to support your internal management plan and regulatory inspections, training usually covers the following.
- Basic principles of the Personal Information Protection Act and data subjects’ rights
- What to observe at each stage: collection, use, provision, and destruction
- Security measure standards for access rights, passwords, encryption, and more
- Reporting and notification procedures when a data breach occurs
- Common mistakes at work (misdirected emails, shared folders, generative AI input)
Common points of confusion
“We’re not covered” is the most common misconception — any team that handles customer or partner contact details or employee HR data counts as a personal information handler. HR, general affairs, sales, and customer service are typical examples.
Production staff may be covered — people who do not handle personal information directly are not covered, but those who work with access logs, CCTV, or attendance systems are included.
Generative AI input is a new leak path — more employees are pasting customer lists and support records into AI services. Our recent training always covers this.
Your records are your defense — when nothing goes wrong, nobody notices, but after an incident, having no training record hurts you most.
When Nanum Consulting delivers it
Nanum Consulting delivers this subject on-site as the Privacy Training program. Rather than reciting statutes, we build it around the situations where incidents actually happen: misdirected emails, shared folders, and generative AI input.
It can be combined with other subjects in one session, and we provide a training record template to attach to your internal management plan.
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You can schedule privacy training just for the people it covers (personal information handlers), or add a 1-hour session to a subject delivered to all employees.
Privacy Training — FAQ
Is privacy training statutory mandatory training?
Do all employees have to take privacy training?
How often must privacy training be held each year?
View other mandatory training
Legal basis · Sources
- Personal Information Protection Act, Article 28 (Korea Law Information Center)
- Standards for Measures Ensuring the Safety of Personal Information (notice)
- Personal Information Protection Commission
The governing law, who is covered, hours, and fines may vary by workplace size, industry, and legal amendments. This page is general information to aid understanding. Please check the relevant laws and your local Ministry of Employment and Labor office to confirm how they apply to your workplace. .