Meta Fined 21.6 Billion Won in South Korea for Collecting Sensitive User Data for Targeted Ads

This image provided by Yonhap News TV shows Meta Platforms Inc.’s social media service Facebook. (Image courtesy of Yonhap)

SEOUL, Nov. 11 (Korea Bizwire) – South Korea’s data protection watchdog has imposed new penalties on Meta, Facebook’s parent company, for collecting sensitive personal information from Korean users, including their political views, for advertising purposes. The latest fine brings total penalties against Meta in South Korea to approximately 60 billion won. 

The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) announced on November 5 that it had voted the previous day to levy a fine of 21.62 billion won on Meta for violations of the Personal Information Protection Act, along with corrective orders.

According to the commission’s investigation, Meta collected sensitive information from approximately 980,000 Korean users since 2018, including their religious views, political orientations, and stance on same-sex marriage. This data was then shared with about 4,000 advertisers. 

The commission found that Meta gathered this information through various means, including users’ Facebook profile entries, pages they “liked,” and advertisements they clicked on. For instance, if a user indicated interest in a particular political party, they would receive advertisements promoting related rallies or encouraging membership in affiliated organizations. The advertising categories included sensitive topics such as homosexuality, transgender issues, and North Korean defectors. 

The regulatory body also determined that Meta had unjustifiably refused users’ requests to access their personal information. 

This isn’t Meta’s first brush with South Korean privacy regulators. In 2022, the commission imposed a 30.8 billion won fine on Meta for collecting users’ behavioral data from other companies for targeted advertising.

This included gathering information about users’ activities on popular Korean apps like food delivery service Baemin, e-commerce platform Coupang, and travel app Yanolja. 

In February 2023, Meta faced an additional 600 million won penalty for attempting to restrict services to users who refused to provide personal information. The company was hit with another 7.3 billion won fine in July 2023 for failing to obtain proper consent while collecting user behavioral data for targeted advertising.

Along with the latest financial penalties, the commission ordered Meta to establish legal grounds for processing sensitive information, implement appropriate security measures, and respond faithfully to users’ requests to access their personal information.

Meta Korea stated it would “carefully review the sanctions decision.” The company has historically challenged the commission’s penalties through administrative litigation.

Kevin Lee (kevinlee@koreabizwire.com)