South Korea Fines Meta $15-M For Illegally Collecting Facebook Users' Data

South Korea’s privacy watchdog has fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data on their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers, Kim Tong-hyung reported for the Associated Press (AP).

This is the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company.

This is the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.

Following a four-year investigation, South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information on approximately 980,000 Facebook users.

Included were their religion, political views, and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022. The commission stated that the company shared this data with around 4,000 advertisers.