Accordingly, the Korea Personal Data Protection Commission has announced the decision to fine Meta Platforms Inc (parent company of Facebook and Instagram) 21.6 billion won (equivalent to 15.6 million USD) for collecting sensitive user data without notifying and providing it to advertisers.
The committee said the decision to fine Meta was made at its plenary meeting on November 4.
At the same time, the Korea Personal Data Protection Commission also found that Meta violated Korean law by collecting data on the religion, political views, marital status and sexual orientation of about 980,000 Facebook users in this "land of kimchi".
The Korean Personal Information Protection Law strictly prohibits the use of information such as a person's views, beliefs, political views and sex life, unless that person consents to the use.
Meta was also accused of transferring the collected information to about 4,000 advertisers, who used this data to create customized ads based on users' personal interests.
According to the Committee, Facebook's parent company did not specify where personal data was used in its data policy, nor did it require user consent or take additional protections. In addition, Meta also allowed attackers to change the passwords of disabled accounts by accepting fake IDs, leading to personal information of 10 Korean users being leaked.
The Korea Personal Data Protection Commission has also asked Meta to provide a legal basis for the use of sensitive information, take measures to ensure data security, and respond honestly to users' requests for access to personal information.
Meta has not yet responded to the above decision.
