Kakao Group faces record $10 mn data-leak fine

[Photo by Yonhap]

Kakao Group recently hinted at filing a lawsuit against a South Korean national data protection authority that imposed a record fine on the messenger app for the leakage of personal data.

Although the tech firm claimed that the decision was in fact incorrect, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) stated it would defend the case in court, asserting that its decision was appropriate.

Kakao Group claimed that the information leaked on KakaoTalk, such as serial numbers, could not be personally identified and thus did not constitute a personal information leak. The PIPC countered that the concept of personal information suggested by the company was too limited and narrow.

“Kakao Group has already been fined after it leaked personal information but did report it to the authority, claiming that that it was a hack rather than a personal information leak,” PIPC Vice Chairperson Choi Jang-hyuk stated at an annual briefing at the commission‘s press office on Thursday. According to the current regulations, all personal information controllers must inform the PIPC within 72 hours of a personal information leak.

the PIPC fined Kakao Group 15.1 billion won ($10.9 million) in May 2024 for the personal data leak, the largest fine ever imposed on a South Korean company, after finding that personal information had been leaked in an open chat, KakaoTalk’s anonymous communication system. The authority then ordered the company to notify users of the leak, but Kakao Group countered by threatening an administrative lawsuit, claiming that the PIPC’s findings are groundless.

The regulators‘ decision will remain in place until the court makes a different ruling,“ Choi said, while Kakao Group said that it would leave the case up to a court.