[Unofficial translation provided by the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]

"Meta fined 21.6 billion Korean Won for breaching South Korea's privacy law" 6 November 2024

...Reuters reports that South Korea's Personal Information Protection Act (PIPA) has imposed a fine of 21.6 billion won ($15 million) on Meta for breaching the country's data protection laws.

According to the report, Meta harvested sensitive information ...from the profiles of around 980,000 users in South Korea. This data was then provided to approximately 4,000 advertisers, who used it for targeted marketing purposes.... Users were marked as supporters of certain religions, or identified as LGBTQ+, transgender, or even as defectors from North Korea...

PIPA provides strict safeguards for sensitive data related to political beliefs, religion, and sexual behaviour. Under the law, companies are prohibited from processing or using such personal information without the explicit consent of the individual concerned...

In addition to the fine, Meta has been accused of refusing to provide users with access to their personal data when requested.... Meta has also faced criticism for failing to implement proper security measures, which led to a data breach where the personal information of 10 users was leaked due to a hacking incident.

A Meta spokesperson commented, "Once the final written decision is received, we will review it. We are committed to working closely with the Personal Information Protection Commission to ensure the privacy of our users in Korea is protected."