South Korea's privacy watchdog has imposed a fine of 21.6 billion won ($15 million) on social media giant Meta for unlawfully collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users. The data collected included details about users' political views, sexual orientation, religion, and other personal beliefs.
The investigation, spanning four years, revealed that Meta had gathered sensitive information from approximately 980,000 Facebook users between July 2018 and March 2022. This data was then shared with around 4,000 advertisers without the explicit consent of the individuals involved.
South Korea's strict privacy laws prohibit the processing of information related to personal beliefs, political views, and sexual behavior without specific consent. The Personal Information Protection Commission found that Meta had obtained this sensitive data by analyzing users' liked pages and clicked advertisements.
The commission highlighted that Meta's vague data policy failed to adequately inform users about the collection and use of their sensitive information. Additionally, the company's lack of basic security measures, such as removing inactive pages, led to data breaches affecting at least 10 South Korean Facebook users.
This is not the first time Meta has faced penalties in South Korea for privacy violations. In 2022, the company, along with Google, was fined a combined 100 billion won ($72 million) for tracking consumers' online behavior without consent and using their data for targeted advertisements.
The commission emphasized the need for clearer consent processes to give users more control over their online information. Meta's South Korean office has stated that it will carefully review the recent decision but has not provided further comments at this time.
These fines underscore the increasing scrutiny faced by tech companies regarding privacy practices and data protection, signaling a growing emphasis on safeguarding user information in the digital age.
