Privacy Policy

1. General Provisions

The Seoul Design Foundation (hereinafter the “Foundation”), the host organization of the World Design Congress, highly values the personal information of users during the use of the World Design Congress official website (hereinafter the “Site”) and the pre-registration/event participation application process, and complies with relevant laws such as the Personal Information Protection Act. This Privacy Policy is formulated to inform you of what personal information the Congress processes, for what purposes, and how it is managed.

In particular, the World Design Organization (WDO), which acts as a co-host under the event agreement, also has the right to access this registration data for the smooth operation of the event. Personal information collected, such as email addresses, may be shared with WDO for the purpose of their future event notifications and promotions.

In the event that the Congress transfers, takes over, or merges all or part of its business, if there is a party receiving personal information, necessary procedures such as notifying users in advance via the Site and notices, and obtaining the consent of data subjects, will be strictly followed.

• Effective Date of the Privacy Policy: [September 1, 2026]
• Last Revised Date: [September 14, 2026]

2. Purpose of Processing Personal Information

The Congress processes personal information for the following purposes and will take necessary measures, such as obtaining separate consent, if the purpose changes.

1. World Design Congress 2027 Seoul main event and Preview event (October 14, 2026) pre-registration, guidance, and communication

• Confirmation of participation applications/receipts, sending event guides (location, time, program changes, etc.), managing the list of participants, and on-site check-in.

2. Announcements of news related to the 35th World Design Congress and WDO events

• Sending emails regarding major news of the World Design Congress, notices for future registration openings, and promotions for future events hosted by WDO.

3. Handling Inquiries

• Checking contact information to reply when inquiries are received.

4. Prevention of Fraudulent Use and Site Security

• Detecting abnormal access, preventing fraudulent registration and system abuse, and responding to security incidents.

5. Service Quality Improvement

• Improving content and functions through the statistical analysis of Site usage.

6. Fulfillment of Legal Obligations

• Compliance with obligations to retain and submit records according to relevant laws.

3. Items of Personal Information Processed and Methods of Collection

A. Items Collected (Pre-registration for the Preview Event)

Category	Item	Required/Optional
Required	Name	Required
Required	Email Address	Required
Required	Mobile Phone Number	Required
Optional	Affiliation (Organization/Company Name), Job Title	Optional
Optional	Number of Attendees, Areas of Interest	Optional
Automatically Collected	Date and Time of Registration, IP Address, Browser and Device Information	–

B. Methods of Collection

• Pre-registration: Information directly entered by the data subject when using the online application form (e.g., Catch Form) accessed via links posted on the Site.
• Inquiries: Input through inquiry channels on the Site (e.g., email).
• Automatic Collection: Collected through automated means such as cookies when visiting the Site (See Article 12).

4. Processing and Retention Period of Personal Information

• Pre-registration Information: This registration process aims not only for attendance at the Preview event but primarily for continuous communication regarding the World Design Congress 2027 Seoul main event. Therefore, the collected information will be retained and used until 3 months after the end of the World Design Congress 2027, after which it will be destroyed.
• Subscribers to Newsletters/Notifications: Destroyed immediately upon request to unsubscribe.
• Exceptions: If retention is required by relevant laws, the information is stored separately for the specified period and then destroyed.

5. Outsourcing of Personal Information Processing

For the smooth execution of the pre-registration process, the Congress entrusts personal information processing tasks as follows. When concluding an outsourcing contract, matters such as the prohibition of processing beyond the designated purpose, technical and administrative protective measures, and supervision of the entrusted party are specified in the contract in accordance with relevant laws.

Entrusted Party	Details of Entrusted Task	Retention and Use Period
Onaepeople Co., Ltd. (Catch Secu/Catch Form)	Receiving and storing pre-registration forms	Retained until the termination of the entrustment contract or the achievement of the purpose

6. Provision of Personal Information to Third Parties

The Congress processes the personal information of data subjects only within the scope specified in Article 2 (Purpose of Processing Personal Information), and does not provide personal information to third parties except in cases where separate consent has been obtained from the data subject or where specifically required by law. However, as stated in Article 1 (General Provisions) and Article 7 (Overseas Transfer), sharing data with the World Design Organization (WDO) for the smooth operation and promotion of the event is considered to be consistent with this processing purpose.

7. Overseas Transfer of Personal Information

The Foundation may transfer personal information overseas as follows for the joint operation of the event with WDO and the promotion of future global events.

Category	Details
Recipient	World Design Organization (WDO)
Country of Transfer	Canada (Location of the WDO Secretariat)
Items Transferred	All personal information entered during registration, including name and email
Purpose of Transfer	Cooperation in Congress operation, promotion of future WDO-hosted events, and related communications
Method of Transfer	Electronic transmission via a secure network or cloud system sharing
Retention and Use Period	Until 3 months after the end of the World Design Congress 2027 (or until an unsubscribe request is made)

8. Rights, Obligations, and Methods of Exercise of Data Subjects and Legal Representatives

Data subjects can exercise the following personal information protection rights regarding the Congress at any time.

1. Request for access

2. Request for correction of errors

3. Request for deletion

4. Request for suspension of processing

The exercise of rights can be done in writing, via email, etc., to the Personal Information Protection department. The Congress will take action and notify the results without delay, generally within 10 days of receiving the request (exceptions may apply according to relevant laws).

In the case of children under the age of 14, their legal representative may exercise these rights on their behalf.

9. Protection of Children’s Personal Information

In principle, the online/offline registration and Site services of this Congress are operated for adults (14 years of age or older). The pre-registration of children under 14 may be restricted. If the collection of information is unavoidably necessary, the consent of a legal representative must be obtained.

However, during the Congress, attendance by minors at specific side events where alcohol is served (such as receptions) may be strictly prohibited, regardless of whether a legal representative has consented.

10. Procedures and Methods for the Destruction of Personal Information

• Destruction Procedure: Personal information for which the retention period has expired or the purpose of processing has been achieved is either destroyed immediately or transferred to a separate database (or separate filing cabinet for paper) and destroyed after being stored for a certain period in accordance with internal policies and relevant laws.
• Destruction Method: Electronic files are permanently deleted using technical methods that render the records unrecoverable, and paper documents are shredded or incinerated.

11. Measures to Ensure the Security of Personal Information

The Congress takes the following measures to secure personal information.

1. Administrative measures: Establishment and implementation of an internal management plan, minimization of personnel handling personal information, and regular training.

2. Technical measures: Management of access rights to personal information processing systems, installation of access control systems, encryption of personal information during storage and transmission (where applicable), and installation and renewal of security programs.

3. Physical measures: Access control to data storage locations.

12. Installation, Operation, and Rejection of Automatic Personal Information Collection Devices (Cookies, etc.)

The Site may use cookies to provide customized services to users and analyze access statistics.

• Purpose of using cookies: Analysis of access frequency and visit time (e.g., when using analytics tools like Google Analytics).
• Third-party cookies: Third-party services included on the Site, such as social media sharing buttons and map embeds (Kakao/Google Maps), may install their own cookies, and the privacy policies of those third parties will apply.
• Rejection of cookie installation: You can refuse to save cookies through your web browser settings, but doing so may cause difficulties in using some features of the service.

13. Links to Other Sites

The Site may contain links to other websites not owned or managed by the Congress, such as those of sponsors, partner organizations, and ticket agencies.

The Congress is not responsible for the privacy practices of these other sites. When moving to another site via a link, please check the privacy policy of that site. This Privacy Policy applies only to personal information collected on the World Design Congress Site.

14. Personal Information Protection Officer and Responsible Department

Category	Details
Personal Information Protection Officer	Name: [Jeonghun Cho] / Position: [Senior Officer]
Responsible Department	[Universal Design Team, Seoul Design Foundation]
Contact Information	Email: [jhcho@seouldesign.or.kr] / Phone: [02-2096-0123]

Data subjects can direct all inquiries, complaints, and requests for damage relief related to personal information protection arising from the use of the Congress services to the responsible department above. The World Design Congress will answer and process the data subject’s inquiries without delay.

15. Remedies for Infringement of Data Subjects’ Rights

Data subjects may apply for dispute resolution or consultation regarding personal information infringement to the following agencies (within South Korea).

• Personal Information Dispute Mediation Committee: 1833-6972 (www.kopico.go.kr)
• Personal Information Infringement Report Center: 118 (privacy.kisa.or.kr)
• Supreme Prosecutors’ Office: 1301 (www.spo.go.kr)
• National Police Agency: 182 (ecrm.cyber.go.kr)

16. Changes to the Privacy Policy

This Privacy Policy shall be applied from the effective date. In the event of any additions, deletions, or corrections in accordance with laws and policies, a notice will be posted through the Site’s announcements starting 7 days before the implementation of the changes.