South Korea fines Coupang $408m over biggest data leak in country’s history
Key takeaways
- Data protection watchdog says e-commerce giant failed to implement safety measures and delayed reporting breach.
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- “This accident occurred due to Coupang’s lack of safety measures and systems, not sophisticated hacking,” Song Kyung-hee, the chairperson of the privacy regulator, told a briefing on Thursday.
Why this matters: an international story with cross-border implications worth tracking.
Data protection watchdog says e-commerce giant failed to implement safety measures and delayed reporting breach.
xwhatsapp-strokecopylinkgoogle Add Al Jazeera on Googleinfo. The logo of South Korean online delivery service Coupang at the headquarters of Coupang in Seoul, South Korea, on December 9, 2025 [Jung Yeon-je/AFP]By AFP and Reuters Published On 11 Jun 202611 Jun 2026South Korea has hit e-commerce giant Coupang with a record $408m fine over a leak that allegedly exposed the data of more than 30 million customers and provoked the ire of US lawmakers.
The Personal Information Protection Commission said on Thursday that the New York-listed company had leaked personal data of more than 33 million customers and failed to report the breach within the 72 hours required by the law.