South Korea hits Google and Meta with $72 million in fines over privacy law violations

South Korea’s Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) hit Google and Meta with fines totaling KRW 100 billion over the violation of privacy laws. This is the biggest such fine in the country to date and also the first to be imposed over the collection and use of behavioral information for customized advertising.

Google is taking the bigger hit, KRW 69.2 billion (around $50 million), while Meta was fined KRW 30.8 billion ($22 million or so). The two companies were accused of not acquiring legitimate consent before collecting user information through third-party websites and…