Meta’s Data Debacle: Tech Giant Slapped with $18 Million Fine for Exposing 980,000 Users’ Sensitive Info to Advertisers

Meta was fined and fined for collecting sensitive information such as politics, religion, and marriage views of 980,000 domestic Facebook users without consent and providing it to advertisers. This is the eighth legal sanction since the first fines and fines were imposed on Meta in 2020. The fines and fines imposed so far amount to 73.1 billion won.

The Personal Information Protection Committee announced on the 5th that it held a general meeting on the 4th and decided to impose a fine of 21.613 billion won, a fine of 10.2 million won, and a corrective order on Meta for violating the Personal Information Protection Act. The Personal Information Commission detected this situation and began an investigation in 2020, the first time Facebook was fined for providing personal information to a third party without permission.

As a result of the investigation, Meta collected sensitive information such as religious views, political views, and same-sex marriage status of approximately 980,000 domestic users that appeared in their Facebook profiles and provided it to advertisers. About 4,000 advertisers used it. An official from the Personal Information Commissioner’s Office explained, “We created a space in the Facebook profile for users to enter their religious and political views, etc.,” and added, “Accordingly, we created about 90,000 similar ad categories and ran targeted advertisements.” When a user inputs that he or she is interested in a specific political party or group, the advertiser who receives the information sends advertisements that encourage membership in related rallies or groups. In addition, by analyzing behavioral information such as pages users liked on Facebook and advertisements clicked, advertisements were made on topics related to sensitive information, such as specific religions, homosexuality, transgender people, and North Korean defectors.

The Personal Information Commission viewed this as a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act. The Protection Act defines information on thoughts, beliefs, political opinions, and sexual life as sensitive information and, in principle, restricts the processing of such information. The Personal Information Commission said, “We will continue to check whether Meta complies with correction orders and apply the Personal Information Protection Act to global companies that deal with domestic users without exception.”

Reporter Han Eun-hwa onhwa@joongang.co.kr