South Korea fines Meta about $15 mln over misuse of sensitive user data
SEOUL – South Korea has ordered Facebook owner Meta Platforms META.O. to pay 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) in fines for collecting sensitive data from users without notice and handing it over to advertisers, South Korea’s data protection watchdog said Tuesday, according to Yonhap News Agency.
According to the Personal Information Protection Commission, the U.S. tech giant obtained information from about 980,000 South Korean Facebook users on issues such as their religious and political views without seeking agreement from users.
The commission has also accused Meta of transferring the information to about 4,000 advertisers, who used the data to create customised ads based on the personal interests of the users.
“Specifically, it has been found that Meta analysed user behaviour data such as pages they liked and advertisements they clicked on Facebook and created and managed advertising themes related to sensitive information,” the commission said.
Meta also allowed hackers to change the passwords of disabled accounts by accepting their fake IDs, resulting in the personal information of 10 South Korean users being leaked, the commission said.
Accordingly, Meta has been ordered to provide legal justification for its use of sensitive information, implement measures to ensure data security, and fully respond to users’ requests for access to their personal information.
