VIP Customer Personal Information Leaked at Gangnam Department Store... Police Investigation Underway

[Asia Economy Reporter Song Seung-yoon] A case of personal information leakage of customers occurred at a luxury jewelry store in a department store in Gangnam, Seoul, prompting the police to launch an investigation.

On the 20th, according to the police, the Gangnam Police Station received a report that a list containing personal information of VIP customers was leaked from the store and began investigating the cause and extent of the leak.

The list was originally handwritten by store employee A in a diary for customer management, but another employee B viewed it without permission and reportedly circulated or photographed it among employees, spreading parts of it in group chat rooms. Employee B has been booked for violating the Personal Information Protection Act. The list is known to include personal information of celebrities such as chaebol families and mid-sized company owners.

The police conducted a search and seizure, securing related materials from the store’s closed-circuit television (CCTV) and PCs, and confiscated the smartphone of the employee suspected of leaking the information. Based on the secured materials, the police plan to identify the exact leakage route and scale, and sequentially summon related individuals for questioning.