Coupang challenges 624.7 billion won privacy penalties in court
In short
Coupang filed two lawsuits on October 7 challenging privacy penalties of about 624.7 billion won. It also asked the Seoul Administrative Court to suspend the penalties.
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Coupang has filed two lawsuits seeking to overturn privacy penalties totaling about 624.7 billion won, according to reports published on October 8. The company brought the cases against the Personal Information Protection Commission at the Seoul Administrative Court the previous day. It also sought orders suspending the effect of the penalties while challenging the decisions. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Seoul Economic Daily put the two penalties at 423.575 billion won for failures to meet safeguards obligations relating to a personal-data leak and 201.106 billion won for unauthorized collection of users' online activity records. The outlet said the commission approved the combined 624.681 billion won penalty at a plenary meeting on June 10. [ 1 ]
The commission concluded that Coupang had failed to maintain adequate safeguards, including management of authentication signing keys and access controls, according to Yonhap. Seoul Economic Daily and Hankook Ilbo also reported that the company collected records of about 11.17 million members' use of other websites or apps without authorization. [ 1 , 3 , 4 ]
The reports differ on the number affected by the leak. Seoul Economic Daily and Seoul Shinmun put it at 37.55 million people, while Hankook Ilbo described about 37.5 million. A Newsis photo caption gave 37.75 million. Yonhap reported that the penalties were the largest imposed for a single personal-data leak and for multiple violations by one company. [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
Coupang said the commission's decision had not sufficiently reflected its proactive steps to prevent secondary harm following last year's leak or its explanations based on the facts. The company expressed regret over that and said it expected the facts to be clarified through legal proceedings. [ 1 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Why it matters
The penalties cover a personal-data leak and the unauthorized collection of members' online activity records. Yonhap reported that the amounts were records both for a single data-leak incident and for multiple violations by one company.
Key facts
- Coupang filed two suits against the Personal Information Protection Commission at the Seoul Administrative Court on October 7. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
- The penalties total 624.681 billion won, according to Seoul Economic Daily. [ 1 ]
- Coupang also requested suspension of both penalty decisions. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 ]
- The commission approved the penalties in June. [ 1 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 ]
Confirmed by several sources
Still unclear
- The reports give different figures for the number of people affected by the data leak. Seoul Economic Daily and Seoul Shinmun report 37.55 million, Hankook Ilbo says about 37.5 million, and the Newsis photo caption gives 37.75 million.