A state agency monitoring data protection has ruled the government's use of facial information for the development of an artificial intelligence(AI)-based immigration review system is not in violation of the law.

The Personal Information Protection Commission reached its decision on Wednesday after an investigation into alleged privacy violations committed by the ministries of justice and science.

The allegations emerged after the justice ministry began to develop the AI-based classification and tracking system for immigration review in 2019, which involved the use of around 170 million personal data entries in its network.

The ministry obtained the encrypted data on passport numbers, nationalities, birth years, genders and facial images in accordance with the Immigration Control Act.

The ministry had restricted access to the data, and none of the information was found to have been transferred externally.

The commission said while the information is sensitive, it was handled appropriately under the law, and its usage fell within the parameters of the ministry’s objective.