According to the news of the Korean Personal Information Protection Committee on November 5, the Committee held its 18th plenary meeting on November 4, and decided to impose an administrative fine of more than 21.6 billion won (about 112 million yuan) on Meta, an American Internet company that violated the Korean Personal Information Protection Law.
According to the survey results, Meta collected sensitive information such as religious views, political views, and whether they are married to the same sex from about 980000 Korean users on its social platform Facebook profile. According to the Personal Information Protection Law, information related to personal thoughts and beliefs, political opinions, sexual life, etc. is classified as sensitive information that requires strict protection and is generally prohibited from being processed.
After investigation, it was found that Meta provided unauthorized collection of personal sensitive information to advertising clients, and about 4000 advertisers used this sensitive information. Meta collects and utilizes sensitive user information without their consent, and has not taken measures to protect personal information. Meta refused the user's request to access personal information on the grounds that it is not a designated access object under the Personal Information Protection Law. Meta did not take security measures such as deletion or closure for websites that are currently deactivated or inactive, resulting in the leakage of personal information of 10 Korean users. (Korean News Agency)