Facebook and Instagram parent company Meta has been hit with a million-dollar fine in South Korea for collecting user data illegally.
According to Reuters, the data protection agency of Seoul, South Korea, has ordered Meta to pay 21.62 billion won ($15.67 million) after it was found that it had collected users' personal data and shared it with the advertisers illegally.
The Personal Information Protection Commission said in a statement on Tuesday, November 5, 2024, that the US-based tech giant has collected data from about 980,000 South Korean Facebook users about their sexuality, political views, nationality, gender identity, and religion without asking permission from the users.
The agency further claimed that the user information gathered by Meta was later used by 4,000 advertising companies.
The commission said, “Specifically, it has been found that (Meta) analysed user behaviour data such as pages they liked and advertisements they clicked on Facebook and created and managed advertising themes related to sensitive information.”
Furthermore, the data protection agency also argued that Meta has also failed to protect the data of about ten South Koreans that was leaked by the hackers, and it also unfairly declined the request of users to see their personal data.
To note, Meta Korea has declined to comment on the matter.
