By Lee Min-hyung
The nation's online communication watchdog is considering taking tough measures against Google which is suspected of leaking users' personal information to third parties.
"After receiving a court ruling, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) will respond sternly to the incident," a KCC official said Sunday.
This came two days after a Seoul court ruled that Google should disclose records of personal data being shared with third parties.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled Friday, "Google is obliged to abide by the nation's information network law, and therefore, provide information about any records of personal data leakage to third parties,"
Following the ruling, Google released its official statement, retracting its previous stance that it is not legally bound by the Korean law as the company has servers in the United States.
"We have always and will continue to respect local laws," Google Korea said. "For this case, we have yet to receive the court decision and will need to review."
The controversy erupted in 2013 when former United States National Security Agency (NSA) subcontractor Edward Snowden leaked secret information regarding the existence of PRISM, which is a surveillance program the NSA used to collect information from U.S.-based internet companies including Google.
In February 2014, six activists in Korea asked Google for more information about whether the Internet giant leaked their private information to NSA or other third parties.
Google previously said it would comply with the requests, but did not deliver a specific explanation about the incident. The activists then filed a lawsuit in July last year against Google and Google Korea, urging the company to disclose detailed information about its involvement in data leakage with third parties.
During the trial, Google had continuously claimed that it is not legally bound by the Korean law due to the server issue.
Regarding the claim, the KCC chief Choi Sung-joon said during a National Assembly audit last month, "Google Korea received a license to run a business here, but it claims it is not bound to abide by the law, which is a serious problem."
The Seoul court ruled that Google should provide them with records it has shared with third parties. But the court dismissed plaintiff's claim of 3 million won ($2,600) in damages. The court said, "They did not suffer property or psychological damages due to the incident."
The nation's online communication watchdog is considering taking tough measures against Google which is suspected of leaking users' personal information to third parties.
"After receiving a court ruling, the Korea Communications Commission (KCC) will respond sternly to the incident," a KCC official said Sunday.
This came two days after a Seoul court ruled that Google should disclose records of personal data being shared with third parties.
The Seoul Central District Court ruled Friday, "Google is obliged to abide by the nation's information network law, and therefore, provide information about any records of personal data leakage to third parties,"
Following the ruling, Google released its official statement, retracting its previous stance that it is not legally bound by the Korean law as the company has servers in the United States.
"We have always and will continue to respect local laws," Google Korea said. "For this case, we have yet to receive the court decision and will need to review."
The controversy erupted in 2013 when former United States National Security Agency (NSA) subcontractor Edward Snowden leaked secret information regarding the existence of PRISM, which is a surveillance program the NSA used to collect information from U.S.-based internet companies including Google.
In February 2014, six activists in Korea asked Google for more information about whether the Internet giant leaked their private information to NSA or other third parties.
Google previously said it would comply with the requests, but did not deliver a specific explanation about the incident. The activists then filed a lawsuit in July last year against Google and Google Korea, urging the company to disclose detailed information about its involvement in data leakage with third parties.
During the trial, Google had continuously claimed that it is not legally bound by the Korean law due to the server issue.
Regarding the claim, the KCC chief Choi Sung-joon said during a National Assembly audit last month, "Google Korea received a license to run a business here, but it claims it is not bound to abide by the law, which is a serious problem."
The Seoul court ruled that Google should provide them with records it has shared with third parties. But the court dismissed plaintiff's claim of 3 million won ($2,600) in damages. The court said, "They did not suffer property or psychological damages due to the incident."
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