980,000 Facebook users passed ‘sensitive information’ to advertisers… Meta withdraws fines again

Facebook logo on a cell phone. AP = Yonhap News

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.

Sensitive information leaked the moment you click ‘Like’
As a result of the investigation, Meta collected sensitive information such as religious views, political views, and same-sex marriage status of about 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 Commission 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 the pages users ‘liked’ on Facebook and the advertisements they clicked, they advertised 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, “In exceptional cases, processing can only be done if there is a legitimate basis, such as when separate consent is obtained from the information subject. However, while Meta collects sensitive information and uses it for customized advertising, it records it unclearly in the data policy and requires separate consent.” “There is no fact that we have received any information or taken any additional protective measures,” he said.

Meta fines and fines of KRW 73.1 billion over 5 years
In addition, Meta leaked the personal information of 10 people by refusing requests to view users’ personal information or neglecting to manage unused accounts. In the process of a hacker recovering an abandoned account using a fake ID, it was found that Meta approved it without sufficient verification procedures.

Previously, the Personal Information Commission imposed a fine of 30.86 billion won on Meta in September 2022 on charges of collecting behavioral information without user consent and using it for customized advertising. Also, in July of last year, for the same reason, a fine of 6.517 billion won and a fine of 886 million won were imposed. The National Security Commission has issued a total of eight legal sanctions against Meta since 2020, and the amount of fines and fines amounts to 73.1 billion won. Mehta is currently pursuing several administrative lawsuits against the Personal Information Commission. The Personal Information Commission said, “We will continue to check whether Meta complies with the correction order and apply the Personal Information Protection Act to global companies that deal with domestic users without exception.”

Reporter Han Eun-hwa [email protected]