South Korea found that Meta collected sensitive data of around 980,000 users without consent and sold it to advertisers. The commission is reported to have fined Meta $15 million.
South Korea has ordered Meta, the owner of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp, to pay a $15 million fine after finding that it collected sensitive user data and sold it to advertisers without legal basis.
NEARLY 1 MILLION PEOPLE AFFECTED
The Personal Information Protection Commission said in a statement that the US tech giant collected information from around 980,000 South Korean Facebook users on topics such as their religion, political views and sexuality, and did not obtain the users’ consent. The agency said the information was then used by around 4,000 advertisers.
USER BEHAVIOR DATA SOLD “In particular, Meta was found to have analyzed user behavior data, such as the pages they liked on Facebook and the ads they clicked, and to create and manage advertising themes related to sensitive information,” the commission said. The agency said users were categorized. The commission also said Meta unfairly denied users’ requests for access to personal information and failed to prevent hackers from leaking data on around 10 South Koreans.
