South Korea to require facial scans for new mobile accounts

Mandatory facial recognition checks will be adopted by South Korea for new mobile phone registrations as part of a government effort to reduce fraud linked to stolen personal data, according to The Register.

The Ministry of Science and ICT said that criminals have been using stolen information to open mobile accounts that are later used for scams, including voice phishing. The new rule expands existing identity checks by adding facial verification to the registration process. Major South Korean carriers LG Uplus, Korea Telecom, and SK Telecom will use facial biometric data stored in their PASS digital ID app to confirm customer identities.

The policy follows a year marked by major data breaches affecting more than half of South Korea's population. SK Telecom disclosed a breach involving all 23 million of its customers and was fined $100 million for poor security practices. Regulators have since ordered the company to pay $67 to each affected user, a package totaling about $1.55 billion. The ministry said mobile virtual network operators accounted for 92% of counterfeit phones detected in 2024.