South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) has fined Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, 21.62 billion won (about $15.67 million) for improperly collecting sensitive user data and sharing it with advertisers.
According to the commission’s findings, Meta gathered information on approximately 980,000 South Korean Facebook users, covering topics like religion, political views, and sexuality—without securing explicit user consent.
The data was reportedly utilized by over 4,000 advertisers, raising serious privacy concerns. The PIPC revealed that Meta analyzed user activities, such as the pages they liked and the ads they clicked on Facebook, to build ad profiles tied to sensitive information. This profiling led to users being categorized into groups such as North Korean defectors, members of specific religious communities, or individuals identifying as transgender or gay.
Adding to the breach, the agency reported that Meta denied user requests to access their personal information and failed to protect data, leading to a hacking incident affecting around ten South Korean users. Meta Korea has declined to comment on the ruling.
