The Korean Ministry of Information and Communication has revealed it is to push for a bill which will toughen regulations and penalties for those who illegally use data from location-based services.

The technology allows mobile carriers to locate where their subscribers are, opening up a number of new businesses and prompting growing public concerns over privacy infringement. The Information Ministry noted that the new bill is aimed at protecting the privacy of mobile phone users and offering better guidance for the industry.

Under the proposed bill, which is expected to be signed into law in May next year, those who use location-based data without official approval from the government will face harsh penalties: up to five years in prison or as much as 50 million won in fines. In addition, location-service operators will be required to provide data about where handset users are at certain point to authorities in emergency cases, even without prior approval from LBS-enabled handset users.

In July, the ministry said that it would drop its plan to make location-based services mandatory in connection with concerns over violations of privacy. Civic and consumer rights groups opposed the plan, citing high-profile leaks of location data by some Internet-based service operators. The ministry had been pushing for revisions of a law on protection of location information to make it obligatory for local mobile handset manufacturers to install global positioning system chips in all their products.

The U.S. government requires all handset makers to install GPS functionality to help rescue users in case of an emergency as well as to provide a variety of location-based services.Mobile carriers in Korea are posting combined revenue of 6 billion won ($5.1 million) from location-based services that utilise GPS-enabled handsets. As of the end of July, 3.76 million people have signed up for such services.
 

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