South Korea fines Meta about $15 million over collection of user data


FILE PHOTO: A 3D printed Facebook's new rebrand logo Meta is placed on laptop keyboard in this illustration taken on November 2, 2021. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo

SEOUL (Reuters) - South Korea has ordered Facebook owner Meta Platforms to pay 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) in fines after finding it had collected sensitive user data and given it to advertisers without a legal basis, Seoul's data protection agency said.

The U.S. tech giant obtained information from about 980,000 South Korean Facebook users on issues such as their religion, political views and sexuality while failing to seek agreement from users, the Personal Information Protection Commission said in a statement on Tuesday.

The information was then used by some 4,000 advertisers, the agency said.

A Meta Korea official declined to comment.

"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.

This included users being categorised for example as being North Korean defectors, following a certain religion, or identifying as a transgender or gay person, the agency said.

Meta had also unfairly declined a request by users to access personal information and failed to prevent data on about 10 South Koreans from being leaked by hackers, the agency said.

($1 = 1,379.5200 won)

(Reporting by Hyunsu Yim; Editing by Ed Davies and Mark Potter)

Follow us on our official WhatsApp channel for breaking news alerts and key updates!

   

Next In Tech News

Sirius XM found liable in New York lawsuit over subscription cancellations
US Supreme Court tosses case involving securities fraud suit against Facebook
Amazon doubles down on AI startup Anthropic with $4 billion investment
Factbox-Who are bankrupt Northvolt's creditors?
UK should use new powers to probe Apple-Google mobile browser duopoly, report says
EU regulators scrap probe into Apple's e-book rules after complaint was withdrawn
Hyundai recalls over 145,000 electrified US vehicles on loss of drive power
'World of Warcraft' still going strong as it celebrates 20 years
Northvolt CEO steps down, saying group needs up to $1.2 billion
Bitcoin at record highs, sets sights on $100,000

Others Also Read