Google, Meta Fined $71.8M For Violating Privacy Law In South Korea

South Korea fined Google and Meta about $ 71.8 million (100 billion won) after they were found guilty of violating the country's privacy law, South Korean authorities said Wednesday.

The watchdog said in a statement that Google and Meta did not obtain legal consent in the process of collecting information from users who visit their websites and use other websites and apps for interest-based advertising.

Google did not inform users about the collection and use of behavioral information by other companies when they signed up for its service and set the default option to "off", hiding the additional options available in the settings screen, it has affirmed the country. This was stated in the press release from the authorities. Meta also did not provide the statutory data that consumers need to know and was unable to obtain user consent because the company collected and used its behavioral information for personalized advertising when users provided consent. according to a spokesperson for the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC). . .

The PIPC ordered companies to correct the violations and imposed fines of 69.2 billion won (~ $ 50 million) on Google and 30.8 billion won (~ $ 22 million) on Meta.

According to the regulator, this is the largest fine in South Korea for violating privacy laws and the first in the country related to the collection and use of behavioral information on specialized online advertising platforms.

"While we respect PIPC's decision, we are confident to work legally with our customers, who follow the procedures required by local law," a spokesperson for Meta told TechCrunch. "Therefore, we disagree with the commission's decision and will be open to all options, including court appeal."

In recent years, foreign observers have fined Google and Meta for violating data protection regulations. In 2019, the French data protection supervisory body CNIL imposed its first $ 57 million fine for transparency and compliance violations. While Facebook-owned WhatsApp was fined $ 267 million last year for violating GDPR transparency, the German Federal Cartel Office also ordered third-party websites to limit the collection of user metadata. without their consent. This order is still subject to legal challenge in the EU.

"We disagree with the PIPC results and will review the entire written decision as soon as it is presented to us," a Google spokesperson said. “We have always demonstrated our commitment to continuous updates that give users control and transparency while providing the most useful products. We remain committed to working with PIPC to protect the privacy of South Korean users. "

Updated with comments from PIPC and Google.

Meta and Google will pay millions in fines for violating privacy law in South Korea: details