Contractual Protection for Digitally Marginalized Groups, Including the Elderly

Intelligent services offer many positive functions, such as the creation of new knowledge and the provision of new opportunities, and are an indispensable aspect of the intelligent information society. However, the digital divide exacerbates issues of information inequality and marginalization for groups such as the elderly, people with disabilities, and digital illiterates. For instance, in South Korea, the smartphone ownership rate among the elderly (91.0%) is not significantly different from that of the general population (96.1%). However, when it comes to digital competency—such as the ability to use digital devices properly—the elderly exhibit much lower proficiency, with their digital skills reaching only 55% of the general population's level. Korea is getting through transition to an intelligent information society alongside serious aging issues, and it is crucial to establish an environment that ensures substantial contractual autonomy for individuals who are vulnerable in terms of judgment, information-gathering abilities, and the use of digital devices. Therefore, the Korean government has recognized this issue and has focused on providing education to digitally marginalized groups, while also seeking to enhance accessibility through legal and institutional means, such as revising the “Basic Act on Intelligence Information.” However, many of these remain as corporate efforts or are regulated as optional provisions, while shortsightedly responding to immediate problems such as deploying staff when installing kiosks. In contrast, international organizations like the UN and the EU have developed concrete guidelines to protect digitally vulnerable groups. These guidelines go beyond temporarily mandating support personnel for kiosks during the transition period, by offering specific standards and examples of actions which manufacturers, distributors, and other stakeholders should take to enhance accessibility for vulnerable groups. This article first analyzes the needs of digitally marginalized groups, based on our own survey results, to understand how they want their accessibility to be ensured, and examines whether South Korea's legal system aligns with these needs and identifies any issues. Furthermore, the “EU Accessibility Directive” and “ISO 22458” are analyzed to explore the principles behind their international institutionalization, and implications for Korean legislation are proposed.