According to Korea's Chosun Ilbo, lawmaker Kim Tae-hwan said today that, for more than a year now, South Korean wireless providers have been operating location-based services in violation of the country's Protection of Location Information Act.

"The act, which has been effective since August 2005, says that when carriers provide location information to a third party, the carrier must immediately notify those whose information was disclosed," the article states. "Kim said telecom companies have failed to notify their tracked customers immediately through text messages or phone calls."

According to a document from the Ministry of Information and Communication entitled "Status on Location-Based Services of Mobile Telecommunications Companies," between August 2005 and June 2006, SK Telecom violated the act 143 million times, Korea Telecom's KTF violated it 22.44 million times, and LG Telecom violated it 15.05 million times.

An official from one of the accused carriers argues that the act doesn't specifically require notification every time the data is sent, and that his company's general user agreement covers the act's requirements.

Kim, obviously, doesn't agree.