Yes, web scraping is permissible in South Korea under specific conditions, but it is tightly constrained by data protection, copyright, and fair competition laws. The Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) and Copyright Act govern automated data extraction, while the Korea Fair Trade Commission (KFTC) monitors anti-competitive scraping practices. Recent 2026 amendments to the Digital Platform Act (DPA) introduce stricter obligations for large-scale data aggregators, requiring transparency and user consent for certain data uses.
Key Regulations for Web Scraping in South Korea
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Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA): Scraping personally identifiable information (PII) without explicit consent violates PIPA, with penalties up to KRW 500 million (≈USD 370,000) or imprisonment. Automated collection of user data from public websites triggers compliance under Article 15 (collection restrictions) and Article 24 (security safeguards).
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Copyright Act: Extracting copyrighted content (e.g., articles, images) without authorization constitutes infringement under Article 101-2, unless the use falls under fair use exceptions (e.g., research, criticism). Courts assess factors like commercial purpose and transformative use to determine legality.
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Digital Platform Act (DPA) 2026 Amendments: Platform operators must disclose scraping policies and obtain user consent for data aggregation exceeding 10,000 records annually. The KFTC may impose corrective orders or fines for non-compliance, particularly for entities controlling access to essential data.
Additional risks arise under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act (UCPA), which prohibits scraping for anti-competitive purposes (e.g., undermining competitors’ services). Courts scrutinize scraping bots’ impact on website stability and terms-of-service violations.