The industry is paying attention to whether SK Telecom (CEO Yoo Young-sang) will be fined the largest amount ever. This is because the Personal Information Protection Committee has warned of an intensive disposition, calling it an all-time hacking incident.
According to related industries on the 22nd, Ko Hak-soo, chairman of the Personal Information Protection Committee, criticized SK Telecom at a press conference held a day earlier, saying, "This hacking incident can be recorded as an all-time event." Regarding the size of the penalty, he said, "It is difficult to estimate the specific amount," but added, "It will be different from the LG U+ case (which resulted in the personal information leakage accident in 2023)."
LG Uplus was fined 6.8 billion won (approx. 27 million won) and fined by the Personal Information Commission for leaking personal information that occurred two years ago. At that time, the Personal Information Protection Act calculated up to 3 percent of sales of related businesses as fines. However, as the law has been revised now, it is possible to impose fines up to 3 percent of total sales.
If SK Telecom's penalty is calculated based on this, it will be able to arithmetically impose up to 538.2 billion won. This is because SK Telecom's consolidated sales in 2024 reached 17.94 trillion won. If this becomes a reality, SK Telecom will have to pay 567.4 billion won in operating profit in the first quarter of this year as a penalty. However, considering the application of mitigation factors, it seems unlikely that the penalty will be imposed as it is.
Chairman Ko Hak-soo mentioned the possibility of a reduction, saying, "There is a practice of calculating fines after the first reduction and the second reduction." If there is a reason for the reduction, they will apply it and impose a fine.
The largest ever penalty ever imposed by the Personal Information Commission is KRW 69.2 billion on Google in September 2022. At the time, the commission imposed fines on Google for violating the Personal Information Protection Act by collecting personal information without user consent and using it for customized advertisements. Meta was fined KRW 30.8 billion for the same charge. Kakao was fined KRW 15.1 billion for leaking personal information in an open chat room on KakaoTalk in May 2024.
In response, the industry's view is that Google will surpass the level of fines of 69.2 billion won. This is because the incident is difficult to compare with previous cases in terms of the size, duration, and security responsibility.
An industry official said, "The Personal Information Commission continues to make intense remarks on the SK Telecom case every day," and added, "There is a high possibility that the punishment far exceeds the existing penalty level." Another official predicted, "With the Personal Information Commission openly emphasizing the seriousness of the case, the penalty on SK Telecom could be a new standard."
fun3503@chosunbiz.com
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