South Korea Fines Meta $15M for Data Privacy Breach

Meta Faces $15M Penalty in South Korea Data Row

The fine reflects the PIPC's finding that Meta lacked proper legal...

South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission has imposed a $15 million fine on Meta for unauthorized collection and handling of sensitive user data. The commission found Meta violated the country's data protection laws by collecting information without consent and failing to provide transparent data processing practices.

South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has ordered Meta Platforms, Facebook's parent company, to pay a fine of approximately $15.67 million (21.62 billion won) for unlawfully collecting and sharing sensitive user data with advertisers.

On November 5, the PIPC announced that Meta had illegally gathered data from around 980,000 South Korean Facebook users, including sensitive information about their religion, political beliefs, and sexual orientation, without obtaining the necessary user consent.

The fine reflects the PIPC's finding that Meta lacked proper legal grounds for collecting and processing this sensitive information, violating South Korea's data protection laws.

The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) revealed that Meta Platforms classified South Korean users into sensitive categories, including:

° North Korean defectors

° Followers of specific religions

° Individuals identifying as transgender or gay

These classifications were made without users' consent, raising concerns about potential discrimination and privacy violations.

Additionally, the PIPC found Meta to be non-compliant with data protection regulations in two key areas:

Access Requests: Meta unfairly rejected users' requests to access their personal information.

2. Data Security: Meta failed to protect user data, resulting in a hacking incident that exposed sensitive information of approximately ten South Korean users.

These findings led to the imposition of a fine of approximately $15.67 million (21.62 billion won) on Meta Platforms.