The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
The Korea Times
amn_close.png
amn_bl.png
National
  • Politics
  • Foreign Affairs
  • Multicultural Community
  • Defense
  • Environment & Animals
  • Law & Crime
  • Society
  • Health & Science
amn_bl.png
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
amn_bl.png
Finance
  • Companies
  • Economy
  • Markets
  • Cryptocurrency
amn_bl.png
Opinion
  • Editorial
  • Columns
  • Thoughts of the Times
  • Cartoon
  • Today in History
  • Blogs
  • Tribune Service
  • Blondie & Garfield
  • Letter to President
  • Letter to the Editor
amn_bl.png
Lifestyle
  • Travel & Food
  • Trends
  • People & Events
  • Books
  • Around Town
  • Fortune Telling
amn_bl.png
Entertainment & Arts
  • K-pop
  • Films
  • Shows & Dramas
  • Music
  • Theater & Others
amn_bl.png
Sports
amn_bl.png
World
  • SCMP
  • Asia
amn_bl.png
Video
  • Korean Storytellers
  • POPKORN
  • Culture
  • People
  • News
amn_bl.png
Photos
  • Photo News
  • Darkroom
amn_NK.png amn_DR.png amn_LK.png amn_LE.png
  • bt_fb_on_2022.svgbt_fb_over_2022.svg
  • bt_twitter_on_2022.svgbt_twitter_over_2022.svg
  • bt_youtube_on_2022.svgbt_youtube_over_2022.svg
  • bt_instagram_on_2022.svgbt_instagram_over_2022.svg
  • Login
  • Register
  • Login
  • Register
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
  • 1

    IU says she was excited to share screen with Park Seo-joon in 'Dream'

  • 3

    BLACKPINK, TXT, Stray Kids: K-pop stars headline international music festivals

  • 5

    INTERVIEWForeign-born entertainers seek to revolutionize local industry

  • 7

    College students turn to 1,000 won breakfast to beat inflation

  • 9

    Korean aesthetics, spirit live on at Gyeongbok Palace

  • 11

    Chun Woo-won apologizes to Gwangju victims, calls grandfather 'criminal'

  • 13

    Koreans warned against making inappropriate videos in Thailand

  • 15

    BTS Jimin breaks record for K-pop soloist with 'Face'

  • 17

    South Korea nominates new ambassador to US

  • 19

    SM Entertainment founder looks to future as company appoints new management

  • 2

    Children, pregnant women executed, tortured in North Korea: report

  • 4

    Korea to scrap customs form for travelers without dutiable goods

  • 6

    NewJeans, Apple join hands to bring immersive audio experience

  • 8

    Rare Joseon-era map returns home from Japan

  • 10

    Seventeen to drop new EP next month

  • 12

    Celebrity chef Paik Jong-won takes his business skills to next level with 'The Genius Paik'

  • 14

    Carmakers unveil latest models at Seoul Mobility Show

  • 16

    'Me': BLACKPINK's Jisoo off to smooth start as solo artist

  • 18

    Japanese top visitors to Korea in 2023 as tourism rebounds

  • 20

    Gwangju's popular Alleyway restaurant resurrects

Close scrollclosebutton

Close for 24 hours

Open
  • The Korea Times
  • search
  • all menu
  • Login
  • Subscribe
  • Photos
  • Video
  • World
  • Sports
  • Opinion
  • Entertainment & Art
  • Lifestyle
  • Finance
  • Business
  • National
  • North Korea
Business
  • Tech
  • Bio
  • Companies
  • World Expo 2030
Sat, April 1, 2023 | 20:22
Companies
Kakao Talk pays price of popularity
Posted : 2013-03-08 14:45
Updated : 2013-03-08 14:45
Print PreviewPrint Preview
Font Size UpFont Size Up
Font Size DownFont Size Down
  • facebook
  • twitter
  • kakaolink
  • whatsapp
  • reddit
  • mailto
  • link
 This is an image capture of a chat window from Kakao Talk, the nation's most popular mobile messenger service. / Korea Times file
This is an image capture of a chat window from Kakao Talk, the nation's most popular mobile messenger service. / Korea Times file

Chat king suffers increased workload


By Cho Mu-hyun

Kakao Talk is paying an unexpected price for becoming the nation's most popular mobile messenger. To the dismay of Kakao, the company that manages the service, its messages are being used as police evidence.

As mobile Internet services are increasingly being used for social communication, authorities are starting to look into servers for evidence in cases, rather than calling for witnesses, investigating hearsay or examining hard copies of documents.

Much like Twitter tweets and Facebook posts that have sparked media controversy overseas, Kakao's two services—KakaoTalk, and the affiliated social network service KakaoStory—are becoming linked to high-profile controversies as both instigators and unwilling participants.

Last month, police investigating the alleged rape case against movie star Park Si-hoo raided Kakao's headquarters in Pangyo Techno Valley in Bundang, as the alleged victim's chats were being named in court as evidence.

A month earlier, Kakao had been searched by another set of investigators looking into a sexual assault case against singer Ko Young-wook. The chat logs between him and the victim were being scrutinized for the case.

These incidents caused outrage among consumers, who were mostly unaware that their messages were being stored and saved by Kakao's servers, raising the issue of whether the company had violated consumer privacy. However, awareness that chat logs were stored also brought in demands from unscrupulous subscribers to see messages sent by their wives and girlfriends.

Last year, the firm saved individual messages for up to 10 days on its servers. Currently, it retains them for 5 to 7 days.

Kakao asserts that saving messages was aimed at the convenience of users, in case of a network or handset problem that prevented a message from being properly sent.

"Following the rising demand from subscribers for privacy, some unwanted scrutiny of our servers and, most important, our need to streamline our business, we are planning to decrease the time we save messages on our servers," said Kakao spokeswoman Elin Lee.

The firm's own servers are seeing heavy use following substantially increased traffic from KakaoStory and its game platform, among other services. It recently expanded its servers to LG CNS's data center in Busan to alleviate the burden on the servers in Seoul.

In March of last year, Kakao saw 2.6 billion text messages sent per day via its messenger. It now averages around 4 billion per day. The all-time high was this year's New Year's Day, when 4.8 billion messages were sent.

According to Kakao, there will no longer be unexpected raids on its office. This is due to the reduced message storage time: messages will now be as stored for as little as a day.

"At the request of the court and police, we've sent files of the chat data without having to hand over our whole servers," said Lee. "We want it to be known that these are only case-by-case incidents, and we will continue to conduct business in a way that puts user convenience and information safety above all other considerations."

The current law doesn't require service providers for text messages or similar services to save messages in complete form. They only need to keep the login entry for three months.

Kakao plans to delete messages from the server immediately following a "send and receive," with only those that failed to reach their destination being temporarily saved.

According to Kakao, the new structure should get rid of the privacy violation issue completely, and will also decrease the workload on its servers. The transition will be completed by the first half of the year. "We are expecting to reach 100 million subscribers very soon, and are preparing for that," said the spokeswoman.

Emailimpale@koreatimes.co.kr Article ListMore articles by this reporter
 
Top 10 Stories
1Chun Woo-won apologizes to Gwangju victims, calls grandfather 'criminal' Chun Woo-won apologizes to Gwangju victims, calls grandfather 'criminal'
2Koreans warned against making inappropriate videos in Thailand Koreans warned against making inappropriate videos in Thailand
3Gwangju's popular Alleyway restaurant resurrectsGwangju's popular Alleyway restaurant resurrects
4Ambassador offers taste of Ghana to Korea Ambassador offers taste of Ghana to Korea
5[INTERVIEW] North Korean defectors bear brunt of remittance scams INTERVIEWNorth Korean defectors bear brunt of remittance scams
6Korea ready to greet BIE inspection team Korea ready to greet BIE inspection team
7Gimpo airport to launch care service for dogs Gimpo airport to launch care service for dogs
8Yoon gov't disputes Japanese media's claims about summit Yoon gov't disputes Japanese media's claims about summit
9Regulators urge financial groups to minimize interest rate hikes Regulators urge financial groups to minimize interest rate hikes
10Mirae Asset, SK Telecom team up for security token businessMirae Asset, SK Telecom team up for security token business
Top 5 Entertainment News
1IU says she was excited to share screen with Park Seo-joon in 'Dream' IU says she was excited to share screen with Park Seo-joon in 'Dream'
2BLACKPINK, TXT, Stray Kids: K-pop stars headline international music festivalsBLACKPINK, TXT, Stray Kids: K-pop stars headline international music festivals
3[INTERVIEW] Foreign-born entertainers seek to revolutionize local industry INTERVIEWForeign-born entertainers seek to revolutionize local industry
4NewJeans, Apple join hands to bring immersive audio experience NewJeans, Apple join hands to bring immersive audio experience
5Celebrity chef Paik Jong-won takes his business skills to next level with 'The Genius Paik' Celebrity chef Paik Jong-won takes his business skills to next level with 'The Genius Paik'
DARKROOM
  • Turkey-Syria earthquake

    Turkey-Syria earthquake

  • Nepal plane crash

    Nepal plane crash

  • Brazil capital uprising

    Brazil capital uprising

  • Happy New Year 2023

    Happy New Year 2023

  • World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

    World Cup 2022 Final - Argentina vs France

CEO & Publisher : Oh Young-jin
Digital News Email : webmaster@koreatimes.co.kr
Tel : 02-724-2114
Online newspaper registration No : 서울,아52844
Date of registration : 2020.02.05
Masthead : The Korea Times
Copyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.
  • About Us
  • Introduction
  • History
  • Contact Us
  • Products & Services
  • Subscribe
  • E-paper
  • RSS Service
  • Content Sales
  • Site Map
  • Policy
  • Code of Ethics
  • Ombudsman
  • Privacy Statement
  • Terms of Service
  • Copyright Policy
  • Family Site
  • Hankook Ilbo
  • Dongwha Group