Civic group files complaint against Kakao over alleged privacy law violations

A civic group filed a complaint against Kakao with the privacy watchdog on Monday, alleging that the tech giant's corporate advertising service uses personal data to target users without their consent.

The Seoul YMCA said it urged the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) to investigate KakaoTalk’s Brand Message service and impose strict sanctions if violations are confirmed.

The group said Kakao replaced its previous channel-based advertising service, which limited promotional messages to users who had added a business’s KakaoTalk channel, with Brand Message, which allows businesses to send ads without requiring users to follow their channels.

It alleged that Kakao matches phone numbers provided by advertisers with its own user database to identify ad recipients, even though users had provided their numbers for basic messaging functions, not to receive third-party advertising.

“The key alleged violations involve the unauthorized use of personal information and infringement of users’ rights,” the group said.

“Although users agreed to provide their phone numbers for basic messaging functions when signing up, Kakao used them to identify advertising targets for outside businesses, in violation of Article 18 of the Personal Information Protection Act.”

The group also accused Kakao of generating users’ ad engagement data, including message views and clicks, and sharing it with advertisers without the users' consent. It said the service lacks a feature allowing users to opt out of all Brand Messages at once, limiting their ability to control how their personal information is used.

The allegations have not been independently verified.

Reports of spam related to Brand Message topped 132,000 after the service was introduced, surging 2.5-fold in the first seven months of this year, according to data from lawmakers on the National Assembly's ICT committee.

The group said of the 22 fines imposed on individual advertisers this year, 18, or 81.8 percent, involved sending ads through KakaoTalk without obtaining consent for advertising on that platform.

“Individual advertisers have been fined after running campaigns based on Kakao’s guidance, while Kakao itself has avoided legal liability despite reaping substantial profits from the service,” the group said.

The Seoul YMCA’s recent survey found that only 16 percent of respondents did not see a problem with advertisers sending messages through KakaoTalk without users’ prior consent, while 69 percent said government regulation was needed to address potentially illegal advertising practices.

The group called on the PIPC to investigate the service’s data-handling practices and order corrective measures, including a feature allowing users to opt out of all Brand Messages. It also urged the watchdog to consider suspending the service if the underlying problems remain unresolved.