Calculators & Self-ChecksProsecution Request Estimator
Secret location tracking (collecting personal location information without consent): statutory penalty and likely requested sentence
The statutory penalty for Secret location tracking (collecting personal location information without consent) and the likely handling of the case depending on your circumstances. The results are for reference only.
- Statutory penalty
- Up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to KRW 30 million
- Legal basis
- Act on the Protection, Use, etc. of Location Information, Articles 40(3) to (5) and 15
- Category
- Cyber · Act on the Protection, Use, etc. of Location Information
Calculate with your own circumstances
What the handling steps mean
- Detention considered · Detention (구속): being held in custody during the investigation and trial under a court warrant when there is a risk of fleeing or destroying evidence
- Formal trial · Formal trial (구공판): the prosecutor asks the court for a trial, and you stand before a judge in a courtroom
- Summary fine · Summary indictment (약식기소): a procedure in which a fine is set on the documents, without a trial in a courtroom
- Suspension of indictment possible · Suspension of indictment (기소유예): the wrongdoing is recognized, but the prosecutor takes various circumstances into account and closes the case without sending it to trial
- Referral to the Family Court possible · Domestic or juvenile protection case: instead of criminal punishment, the Family Court imposes protective dispositions such as counseling, a no-contact order or community service
Handling standards at a glance
Listed from heaviest to lightest. The actual decision depends on the results of the investigation and your circumstances.
Formal trial (prison sentence requested)
- Likely requested sentence
- 8 months or more in prison
Summary fine
- Likely fine
- KRW 3 million or more
Notes
- The same standard applies to obtaining location information by cloning another person's phone or misusing their information, and to violating an order to close the business.
Frequently asked questions
- Secret location tracking (collecting personal location information without consent): what is the statutory penalty?
- Legal basis: Act on the Protection, Use, etc. of Location Information, Articles 40(3) to (5) and 15. Statutory penalty: Up to 3 years in prison or a fine of up to KRW 30 million.
- Secret location tracking (collecting personal location information without consent): how is the case usually handled?
- Depending on the circumstances, it may be handled as follows: Formal trial (prison sentence requested), Summary fine. Enter your circumstances in the calculator above to see which one applies.
Other crimes in the same category
- Defamation through an information and communications network (online defamation)
- Repeatedly sending messages that cause fear or anxiety
- Distributing obscene material online
- Providing or leaking personal information without authorization
- Intrusion into an information and communications network
- Damaging another person's information, or infringing or leaking their secrets (other than hacking)
- Collecting other people's information by deception (phishing)
- Illegal wiretapping or recording other people's conversations, and disclosing them
This is only an estimate based on how investigative agencies usually handle cases. The actual decision and request depend on the facts of the case, such as a settlement, prior convictions and how the crime happened, and on the judgment of the prosecutor in charge; the final sentence is decided by the court. If you are about to be questioned, do not rely on this result alone and talk to a lawyer first.
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