Meta fined $15 million by South Korea for illegally collecting user data

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission has imposed a fine of KRW 21.6 billion ($15.6 million) on , the parent company of Facebook and Instagram.

The regulatory body found that Meta had illegally collected and shared sensitive user data with advertisers without explicit consent. The investigation revealed that Meta had collected personal information from over 980,000 South Korean users, including details about their religious beliefs, sexual orientation, and political views. “Specifically, it has been found that (Meta) analyzed user behavior data such as pages they liked and advertisements they clicked on Facebook and created and managed advertising themes related to sensitive information,” the commission stated.



This data was then used by around 4,000 advertisers to target users with specific advertisements related to sensitive themes such as transgender issues, homosexuality, and North Korean defectors. The commission said Meta’s actions violated South Korean privacy laws by failing to obtain explicit consent for the collection and processing of sensitive personal information. Additionally, the company was criticized for its handling of user data access requests and its failure to implement adequate security measures to protect user data from unauthorized access.

Source: ,.