Personal Information Protection Commission Improves Seller Account Protection Measures to Prevent Fraudulent Transactions on Open Markets
[Asia Economy Reporter Eunmo Koo] It has been revealed through an investigation that nine open markets frequently used in daily life did not provide sufficient protection for seller accounts.
On the 26th, the Personal Information Protection Commission held its 9th plenary meeting and decided to impose a total fine of 52.2 million KRW and corrective orders on seven businesses, including Coupang, for violating personal information protection regulations. This investigation and disposition of open markets were conducted as part of the major daily life-related field inspections announced in the Commission's work plan in January, marking the first case of sanctions for violations related to securing the safety of open market seller accounts.
The open market operators found to be in violation this time include Coupang, Naver, 11st, eBay Korea, Interpark, Tmon, and Lotte Shopping, totaling seven. Among them, eBay Korea operates three open markets?Gmarket, Auction, and G9?bringing the total number of open markets involved to nine.
The investigation revealed that when sellers, who are personal information handlers, access the open market seller system, which is a personal information processing system, via the internet from outside networks, they are required under personal information protection laws to apply additional authentication methods such as account (ID) and password verification, mobile phone authentication, and one-time passwords (OTP). However, these measures were not implemented.
In response to media reports last September about an increase in fraud cases involving the theft of open market seller accounts, the Commission began an investigation targeting Coupang. Considering the growing importance of protecting buyers' personal information amid the expansion of the non-face-to-face e-commerce market due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the investigation was expanded in January to include 11 open markets with an average daily visitor count of over 10,000 (based on Rankey.com).
Song Sang-hoon, Director of the Investigation and Coordination Bureau at the Personal Information Protection Commission, stated, “As e-commerce fraud cases involving the theft of open market seller accounts continue to rise, it is necessary for businesses to implement secure personal information protection measures. Going forward, the Commission will work with related industries to develop measures to ensure that citizens' personal information is safely protected and to prevent fraudulent transactions in the e-commerce market, including open markets.”
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