South Korea Penalizes Meta $15.67 Million for Unlawfully Sharing Sensitive User Data with Advertisers
South Korea’s data privacy watchdog imposed a $15.67 million fine on Meta for illicitly acquiring sensitive personal information from Facebook users. This data encompassed details regarding their political stances and preferences regarding sexual orientation, which were then shared with advertisers without user authorization.
According to the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) of the country, Meta aggregated data on around 980,000 local Facebook users, including information on their religious beliefs, political opinions, and same-sex marriage status, subsequently disseminating it to 4,000 advertisers.
The PIPC stated in a press release that Meta conducted an analysis of user behavior data, such as the pages they interacted with on Facebook and the advertisements they engaged with, to develop advertising categories linked to sensitive particulars.
These categories were utilized to classify users based on their religious affiliations, whether they identified as LGBTQ+, or if they were defectors from North Korea, the commission further elaborated.
Accusing Meta of processing this sensitive data without a proper legal foundation and failing to obtain users’ consent prior to doing so, the agency highlighted that the tech behemoth overlooked implementing security measures for inactive accounts. Consequently, malicious entities were able to request password resets for these accounts by submitting forged identification details. Meta approved such requests without adequately verifying the authenticity of the submitted IDs, consequently leading to the exposure of personal information belonging to 10 South Korean users.
The regulator affirmed, “Moving ahead, the Personal Information Protection Commission will continue to monitor Meta’s adherence to the rectification order, striving to safeguard our citizens’ personal data by impartially enforcing data protection laws on global firms catering to local users.”
In response to the fine, Meta informed the Associated Press in a statement that it would thoroughly assess the commission’s ruling.
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