As Level 3 autonomous vehicles enter the commercialization phase, various personal information issues are coming to the forefront. The Personal Information Protection Commission held a meeting at Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors R&D sites to discuss personal information processing and protection measures.

On the 27th, the Personal Information Protection Commission visited the Hyundai Motor Company-Kia Namyang Technology Research Center (Hwaseong, Gyeonggi Province) research and development site and held a meeting to discuss the current status of personal information processing technology and protection measures, and discussed “Measures to Activate Autonomous Driving Based on User Trust.”

This discussion was attended by Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors executives and working-level researchers, including Personal Information Protection Commission Chairman Yoon Jong-in, Soonchunhyang University Professor Yeom Heung-ryeol, Hyundai Motor Company President Ko Young-woon (Strategic Planning), and Executive Vice President Jang Eung-jun (Autonomous Driving Business Division Head), who is in charge of overall autonomous driving technology development.

Participants agreed that given the nature of automated personal information collection and processing by autonomous vehicles, which makes it difficult for drivers and pedestrians to recognize or control, it is necessary to proactively identify predictable problems in advance and establish and apply appropriate measures such as minimizing personal information collection, deleting unnecessary information, and encrypting it.

As Level 3 autonomous vehicles enter the commercialization phase starting in 2022, various personal information issues are coming to the forefront as autonomous vehicles become capable of recording and transmitting video without human intervention.

Hyundai Motor Company and Kia Motors are currently in the commercialization phase of Level 3 autonomous vehicles.In the case of the procession, since it is expected to be operated in a limited manner only on highways, etc., there is not a high concern about the infringement of personal information of pedestrians, etc.,” he said, adding, “We are currently devising various measures in preparation for the case that autonomous driving is possible on general roads,” and requested advice from an official of the Personal Information Protection Commission.

Professor Yeom Heung-ryeol of Soonchunhyang University emphasized, “Various privacy infringement issues are being raised regarding autonomous vehicles,” and “It is necessary to strengthen the security functions of autonomous vehicles by referring to international security standards.”

Yoon Jong-in, Chairman of the Personal Information Protection Commission, said, “Hyundai Motor Group is making a significant contribution to the national economic development, such as ranking 5th in global automobile market share as of the end of 2020 through continuous technological development efforts.” He added, “Autonomous vehicles need to sufficiently reflect ‘personal information protection-centered design’ from the development and manufacturing stages to secure user trust and further strengthen global competitiveness.”

Meanwhile, in 'Level 3 autonomous driving', the driving control entity lies with the system, and the system is also responsible for any issues that arise during driving.

In certain conditions, such as on highways, the system takes over driving and does not require constant monitoring from the driver, but if the system's requirements are exceeded, the system requests immediate intervention from the driver.