Meta fined for illegally collecting sensitive data of 980,000 users

SEOUL, Nov. 5 (Yonhap) -- Meta Platforms Inc., the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, was ordered to pay 21.6 billion won (US$15.6 million) in fines for collecting sensitive data from users without notice and handing it over to advertisers, South Korea's data protection watchdog said Tuesday.

The Personal Information Protection Commission said it decided to impose the penalty on Meta during a plenary meeting Monday after finding that the company had collected data, such as religious and political views, marital status, and sexual orientation, of some 980,000 local Facebook users in violation of the law.

The Personal Information Protection Act bans the use of information such as a person's ideology, beliefs, political opinions and sex life except when the subject agrees to its use.

Meta is also accused of transferring the information to about 4,000 advertisers, who used the data to create customized ads based on the personal interests of the users.

The commission said the tech giant failed to clearly state where the personal data was being used in its data policy and did not seek user consent or take further protective measures.

Meta also allowed hackers to change the passwords of disabled accounts by accepting their fake IDs, resulting in the personal information of 10 South Korean users being leaked, the commission said.

Meta has been ordered to provide legal grounds for its use of sensitive information, carry out measures to guarantee data safety and faithfully respond to users' requests to access personal information.

sookim@yna.co.kr
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