[Created with ChatGPT]
[Created with ChatGPT]

As an amendment to the Elementary and Secondary Education Act banning the commercial use of school records took effect Wednesday, the Ministry of Education said that simply viewing a student's school record on a temporary basis does not constitute a violation. However, it said that receiving a record as an electronic file or storing and accumulating its contents for use in college admissions counseling would likely be considered "acquisition" under the law.

The ministry released an explanatory document Wednesday titled "Restrictions on the commercial use of school records: clearing up misconceptions and questions," laying out the standards for applying the law. The amended act prohibits acquiring school records and trading or using them for business purposes. Violations can be punished by up to five years in prison or a fine of up to 50 million won ($34,100).

The ministry issued the clarification after major college admissions companies began suspending services that used school records — including early-admissions acceptance prediction tools and online analysis platforms — and educators reported widespread confusion ahead of the law's implementation. MegaStudyEdu had already shut down its early-admissions acceptance prediction service, which it had operated for about 20 years, and other admissions firms had scaled back or modified related features.

The ministry said the same standards apply to both in-person and online counseling. The key question, it said, is whether a company received and retained a student's school record during a consultation, or repeatedly collected and analyzed records for counseling purposes.

Student or parental consent to the use of a school record does not exempt a company from the law. Personal data consent rules and the Elementary and Secondary Education Act's restrictions on using school records for business purposes are separate provisions.

Briefly viewing a school record may not constitute acquisition. However, the ministry said that repeatedly viewing a record, storing or accumulating its contents, or retaining it in a state where it can be accessed again at any time could be deemed acquisition. It particularly noted that receiving a school record as an electronic file would very likely be interpreted as acquisition.

Free consultations are not automatically permitted, either. If a free consultation serves as a means to recruit hagwon students or members, convert clients to paid services, or promote other products, it may be found to have a commercial purpose. By contrast, services that provide university-specific admissions guidelines, competition ratios and results, or calculate converted scores based solely on academic grades are not subject to the restrictions.

On the other hand, storing and analyzing school record content — including detailed subject notes, creative experiential activities and behavioral assessments — for business use may fall under the law. Investigators and courts will determine whether a specific case constitutes a violation based on the facts of each individual case, including how the service was operated and the scope of data use.

The ministry said it plans to fill the gap left by the reduction of private services by expanding public career and college counseling through schools and regional education offices. Last year, education offices provided about 82,000 in-person, phone and online consultations, and 500 active teachers conducted more than 100,000 consultations annually through the college admissions information portal "Eodiga."

"We will actively promote and support public services so that students and parents can receive career and college counseling with confidence, while protecting the public nature and integrity of school records," a ministry official said.


brunch@heraldcorp.com