Facebook is once again facing regulatory action for breaching data protection and privacy laws. The social media giant has been fined $6.1 million in South Korea for sharing the data of 3.3 million users without their consent. South Korean authorities have been investigating the social media giant since 2018 following the Cambridge Analytica scandal. The Korea Communication Commission started the investigation before handing it over to the Personal Information Protection Commission.
Facebook shared data of users without their consent.
The Personal Information Protection Commission concluded its investigation, finding Facebook guilty of personal data protection laws violation. According to the investigation, when users logged in to third-party apps using their Facebook accounts, the company shared their data and that of their friends. These users were unaware that Facebook was sharing their information with these third parties, the PIPC found in the investigation. The commission stated that users agreed to share their information with a particular service when they logged in with their Facebook accounts. However, the user’s friends didn’t, and they were unaware that their data were also being shared.
Users’ names, academic history, hometown, relationship status, and job history were shared.
Some of the information the social media giant shared include users’ names, academic history, hometown, relationship status, and job history. Facebook also stored user password data without encrypting it. It also didn’t notify users when it accessed their data. The PIPC fined the social media company $6.06 million for the violations and an extra 66 million won ($59,729) for failure to cooperate during the investigations. The PPIC intends on filing a criminal complaint against Facebook for breaking personal information laws. This is not the first time Facebook has been fined for compromising users’ data. The social media giant has a history of taking users’ privacy for granted.
