S. Korea fines Meta $15M for illegally collecting information on Facebook users

abcnews.go.com:

South Korea’s privacy watchdog has fined Meta 21.6 billion won for illegally collecting Facebook users’ sensitive personal information, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers for ...

SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea’s privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.

It was 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 about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.

It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.

South Korea’s privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.

The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.

The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a