Meta fined $15.68 million for leaking user information

Korea's privacy regulator fined Meta 21.61 billion won ($15.68 million) for leaking the personal information about its users without their consent.

The logo of Meta Platforms' business group is seen in Brussels, Belgium December 6, 2022. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Korea's privacy regulator fined Meta 21.61 billion won ($15.68 million) for leaking the personal information about its users without their consent.

The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) said Meta had collected such information about 980,000 users located in Korea via their Facebook profiles and handed it over to advertisers between July 2018 and March 2022.

About 4,000 advertisers utilized the information, including political viewpoints, religion, gender identity and marital status for targeted advertising.

The regular also issued corrective orders mandating that Meta establish a legal basis for processing sensitive information, implement measures to ensure data security and respond diligently to users’ requests for access to their personal information. “When we have access to the full written decision, we will take the time to consider it,” a Meta Korea spokesperson said.

Since 2020, Meta was charged with a fine of nearly 60 billion won for violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

The penalty is not the first time the U.S. tech giant has come under fire from the PIPC. The regulator fined the company 6.7 billion won in November 2020 for leaking personal information without consent and 30.8 billion won for collecting personal information, without consent, and using it for targeted advertising.

BY LEE JAE-LIM [lee.jaelim@joongang.co.kr]