South Korea Fines Coupang Record $409 Million for Data Breach and Illegal Data Collection
South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission imposed a record 625 billion won ($409 million) fine on e-commerce giant Coupang for a data breach exposing over 30 million customers' personal information and for illegally collecting online activity data from millions of users. The breach, which first surfaced in November, resulted from inadequate security measures including poor management of authentication keys and lax access controls, with the company failing to detect the breach within the legally required 72 hours. The investigation and fine have created diplomatic friction between South Korea and the United States, with US lawmakers expressing concerns about discriminatory treatment of the American-listed company.
South Korea imposed a record 625 billion won ($409 million fine on Coupang, the country's largest e-commerce platform, for a massive data breach and illegal data collection practices. The Personal Information Protection Commission found that inadequate security measures—including poor management of authentication signing keys and lax access controls—allowed personal data of approximately 37.5 million users to be exposed. Additionally, the company unlawfully collected online activity records of about 11 million users on third-party websites and apps without proper consent. The company failed to detect the breach within the legally mandated 72-hour window, only discovering the incident after a customer inquiry alerted them to unusual traffic patterns. The fine represents 1.4 percent of Coupang's 2025 revenue and has become a source of diplomatic tension, with US lawmakers accusing South Korea of discriminatory regulatory actions against the American-listed company, reportedly affecting high-level security talks between the two allies.
What different sources said
- Al JazeeraLeft
South Korea fines Coupang $408m over biggest data leak in country’s history
- South China Morning PostCenter
South Korea hits e-commerce giant Coupang with record US$409 million fine for data breach
- Channel NewsAsiaCenter
South Korea fines Coupang $409 million in country's largest data breach penalty
- Channel NewsAsiaCenter
South Korea fines e-commerce giant Coupang record US$400 million over data leak
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