Credit: Yonhap News.
On November 30, Science Minister Bae Gyeong-hun 배경훈 과학기술정보통신부 장관 said leading online retailer Coupang 쿠팡 reported a breach of customer data on November 19, losing personal data for 33.7m customers - or practically every adult South Korean. The leaked data include name, email addresses, phone number and address, but not payment information.
The data breach set a new record after SK Telecom SK 텔레콤’s recent data breach, which compromised personal information of 23.2m customers. As a result, Coupang may face the highest fine on record as the Personal Information Protection Act 개인정보보호법 permits a fine up to 3% of the annual revenue, which amounts to KRW 1.2t (USD 816m) based on Coupang’s 2024 revenue. In addition, Coupang is likely to face a record-setting class action case, as victims of data breach typically win around KRW 100,000 (USD 68) per person.
