According to regulators, South Korea has penalized Google and Meta a total of more than $71 million for collecting customers’ personal information without their knowledge in order to deliver customized advertisements. This is the biggest data protection fine ever levied in the nation.
According to the Personal Information Protection Commission, investigations into the two US IT behemoths revealed they had been “gathering and analyzing” user data and keeping tabs on how people were using websites and applications.
It said that neither Google nor Meta had clearly disclosed this practice to South Korean consumers or gotten their prior agreement. Instead, it claimed that the data was used to “infer the users’ interests or used for customized online adverts.”
Google and Meta each received fines of 69.2 billion won ($49.7 million) and 30.8 billion won ($22.1 million), respectively.
The commission claims that when users utilized other websites or services outside of their own platforms, Google and Meta, which runs Facebook and Instagram, did not clearly tell users or get their agreement before collecting information about their online activity.
According to the commission, this information was used to analyze their interests and produce personally tailored adverts.
For abusing its control in the mobile operating system and app marketplaces last year, South Korea fined Google about $180 million, claiming it was undermining market competition.
Massive US technology giants are frequently criticized for edging away competitors to dominate markets, and numerous governments throughout the world are working to curb them.
