In June 2026, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) officially opened recruitment for its expanded 2026 Privacy by Design (PbD) certification programme, signalling a continued regulatory focus on proactive privacy management and accountability.
While certification remains voluntary, the initiative provides valuable insight into the regulator’s expectations and highlights the direction of travel for privacy compliance in South Korea.
What is Privacy by Design?
Privacy by Design (PbD) refers to the principle of integrating privacy and data protection into the architecture of systems, products, and services from the outset. Rather than treating privacy as an afterthought, this proactive approach aims to minimise risks by embedding privacy considerations and safeguards into the earliest stages of development.
As such, the programme aims to encourage organisations to embed privacy protections throughout the entire lifecycle of technologies, from initial design through to operation.
What is changing?
Previously focused primarily on consumer IT products, the 2026 programme has been expanded to include IT products and a wider range of business and security solutions used by small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), including customer management systems.
Successful applicants receive expert technical consultation throughout the certification process, with certification fees fully funded by the PIPC.
A DPO’s perspective
For Data Protection Officers, initiatives such as South Korea’s expanded PbD Certification Programme highlight the growing importance of engaging with projects at the earliest stages of development.
Privacy teams have often previously only been consulted towards the end of a project when key design decisions have already been made. Increasingly, this approach creates unnecessary compliance risks and can lead to costly redesigns or remediation work.
The programme also indicates a clear shift in DPO role expectations, from mainly overseeing compliance to actively guiding privacy-conscious decision making throughout the organisation. This requires DPOs to work closely with information security teams, developers, legal teams and senior leadership to ensure privacy risks are identified and managed before they become regulatory issues.
What should organisations be doing now?
Organisations operating within South Korea should proactively align their internal systems with the Personal Information Protection Commission’s stricter compliance guidelines as the PIPC shifts from a reactive approach towards a preventative framework.
Organisations should consider whether their current governance framework genuinely supports Privacy by Design principles in practice and should prioritise the following actions to ensure ongoing compliance.
- Embed privacy into project governance
Privacy reviews should be integrated into project management, and new products, services and systems should trigger appropriate privacy assessments before implementation.
- Strengthen privacy risk assessment processes
Data protection impact assessments and privacy risk assessments should be conducted consistently for initiatives involving personal data, particularly where new technologies, automated decision making or large-scale processing activities are involved.
- Improve collaboration between privacy, security, and development teams
Privacy and security controls are most effective when they are considered together. Organisations should establish clear communication channels between DPOs, developers and cybersecurity teams throughout the development lifecycle.
Looking ahead
South Korea’s expanded Privacy by Design Certification Programme represents more than a national certification initiative; it reflects a wider global trend towards preventative regulation, where organisations are expected to build privacy protections directly into products, services, and business processes.
Organisations that invest in Privacy by Design today are likely to be better positioned to meet evolving regulatory expectations, reduce compliance risks and build greater trust with customers, employees and stakeholders.
For DPOs, privacy can no longer operate as a standalone compliance function; it must be embedded within organisational decision-making, technology development and risk management activities.
HewardMills provides expert DPO services to help organisations understand regulatory changes, strengthen governance frameworks and embed Privacy by Design across their operations.
Speak to our team today to understand how we can support your organisation in meeting evolving global data protection expectations.
