South Korea penalizes Google and Meta for collecting personal information without users' consent and using it for online advertising

CTOnews.com South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission said Wednesday that South Korea has charged Alphabet's Google and Meta Platforms with violating privacy laws.

The commission fined Google 69.2 billion won (about 347 million yuan) and Meta 30.8 billion won (about 155 million yuan) for collecting personal information without users 'consent and using it for online customized advertising and other violations of the Personal Information Protection Law, the commission said in a statement.

CTOnews.com understands that both companies strongly oppose the decision, saying they "always do their best to protect personal information."

The commission said Google and Meta did not explicitly inform service users and obtain prior consent when collecting and analyzing information about users 'behavior to infer their interests or use it for customized advertising.