South Korea fines Meta $15.6 million for collecting sensitive user data

The Korean Personal Data Protection Commission has just decided to fine Meta Platforms Inc., Facebook's parent company, 21.6 billion won (equivalent to 15.6 million USD) for collecting sensitive user data without notification.

Accordingly, about 980 thousand Facebook users in Korea had their information about religion, political views, marital status and sexual orientation secretly collected by Meta.

This data was “handed over” by Meta to about 4,000 advertisers to use in creating customized marketing based on users' personal interests.

Meta Collected Korean User Data Without Permission

Korean law prohibits the use of sensitive information such as a person's religious beliefs, political views and sex life, unless given permission.

According to the Korea Personal Data Protection Commission, Facebook's parent company did not specify where personal data is used in its public data policy, nor did it ask for user consent or implement additional security measures.

Additionally, Meta was also accused of allowing hackers to change passwords of disabled accounts by accepting fake IDs, which led to the personal information of some Korean users being leaked.

The Korea Personal Data Protection Commission has requested Meta to provide a legal basis for using sensitive information, take measures to ensure data security, and respond honestly to users' requests for access to personal information.

Source: https://baoquocte.vn/han-quoc-phat-meta-156-trieu-usd-vi-thu-thap-du-lieu-nhay-cam-cua-nguoi-dung-292688.html