South Korea has mandated that Meta Platforms, the parent company of Facebook, pay a fine of 21.62 billion won (approximately $15.67 million) after determining that the company improperly collected sensitive user data and shared it with advertisers without a legal foundation, according to the country's data protection authority.
The Personal Information Protection Commission reported that the U.S. tech firm gathered data from around 980,000 South Korean Facebook users regarding their religion, political beliefs, and sexual orientation without obtaining user consent.
This data was subsequently utilized by approximately 4,000 advertisers, the agency noted.
A representative from Meta Korea chose not to provide any comments on the matter.
The commission highlighted that Meta analyzed user behavior data, including the pages users liked and the advertisements they interacted with, to create and manage advertising themes related to sensitive topics.
Users were categorized in various ways, such as identifying as North Korean defectors, adhering to specific religions, or identifying as transgender or gay, according to the agency's findings.
Additionally, Meta was criticized for unjustly denying users' requests to access their personal information and for failing to safeguard data belonging to around 10 South Koreans, which was compromised by hackers, the agency reported.