Koreans increasingly anxious about personal data breach
Seo Ji-yeon, 42, a working mother, said she thought she had made peace with receiving spam calls, but the recent Coupang data breach pushed her anxiety to a new level. “My delivery and purchase history include my child’s school and cram school addresses,” she said. “I mean, it’s bad enough that my phone number is out there, but my kid’s information? That’s another story. Companies always apologize, but nothing really changes.” Receiving spam calls about new credit card issuance is something she is all too familiar with now — something she can easily brush off. However, she said she cannot afford to do that when it comes to her daughter. “I heard that the mother of my daughter’s friend at school received a voice phishing message and a phone call. It was apparently from someone pretending to be the daughter, asking her to send money to a certain account, saying she had lost her phone. When I heard that, it sent chills down my spine, because I don’t know what I would have done if it had happened to me.” Similarly, Kim Hee-sun, 29, an office worker, said she changes
Dec 4, 2025By Lee Kyung-min
