By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

A new class action lawsuit will be filed against the country's second largest oil refinery, GS-Caltex, which is already struggling with several suits over the theft and leakage of the private information of 11 million customers in September.

Lawyer Baek Seung-woo said Friday he would file for compensation on behalf of 13,026 people, whose private information including social security numbers and home addresses was leaked, with the Seoul Central District Court Monday.

``We seek compensation of one million won ($753) per person,'' Baek said in a statement. ``The company has alleged the leak was detected before the information was used for malicious purposes, and so it needn't accept responsibility for it. But I think the leak itself infringed upon the people's right to privacy, which is protected under the Constitution.''

So far, a total of 16 class action lawsuits have been filed on behalf of 25,501 affected citizens, calling for 25.5 billion won in compensation, according to the court.

``The court has streamlined proceedings to expedite the lawsuits,'' a court officer said on condition of anonymity.

On Sept. 5, two compact discs storing the private information of more than 11 million citizens, including high-profile politicians and government ministers, were found in a garbage can in southern Seoul. GS-Caltex admitted the data on the CDs was part of its customer database.

The police later arrested three employees of CS Nextation ㅡ GS Caltex's marketing subsidiary ㅡ for illegally downloading the information of about 11.25 million people, a number nearly equivalent to the country's entire adult population, and attempting to sell the CDs containing the data on the black market.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr