Korail Employee Illegally Accessed RM Personal Data 18 Times
"Curiosity" Cited as Explanation... Korail Initiates Disciplinary Procedures
An employee of Korea Railroad Corporation (KORAIL) was found to have unauthorizedly accessed BTS leader RM's boarding records and personal information, prompting RM to express discomfort.
On the 1st, it was reported that a KORAIL employee was suspended and is undergoing disciplinary procedures after being caught unauthorizedly accessing RM's train ticket information and sharing it with others. According to KORAIL, employee A accessed RM's ticket information, address, phone number, and other personal data 18 times over three years starting from 2019, as revealed by an internal audit.
Customer personal information can only be accessed by specific departments for work purposes. Employee A worked in the Information Technology (IT) department responsible for developing and operating the reservation and ticketing system, which granted him access rights. KORAIL launched an audit after receiving an internal report about an employee unauthorizedly viewing a famous celebrity's personal information.
A Korail employee was found to have accessed personal information without authorization, and RM expressed his displeasure through social media. [Photo by RM, Instagram capture]
Employee A was caught after telling colleagues things like, "I checked RM's reservation details and went to see the actual ticket," and "I informed a friend so they could book a nearby seat." He was also found to have looked up information about a male KORAIL employee who had appeared on a broadcast program and attracted attention.
The KORAIL audit committee recommended a suspension for employee A for violating customer personal information protection regulations. In response, A reportedly explained, "I am a fan of RM and accessed the information out of simple curiosity, and I reflect on my wrongdoing."
However, KORAIL stated, "Although the employee accessed personal information without authorization, there is no evidence of external leakage," and added, "Since this incident, we have developed and implemented a feature that displays a pop-up window or requires input of the reason for access when personal information is viewed."
After the incident became public, RM posted a screenshot of the report on his social media late that night, followed by the reaction "^^;;". While he refrained from directly addressing the issue, it appeared he expressed displeasure.
Earlier in January, RM quietly visited a temple for a temple stay, but a conversation with the head monk about his thoughts on military enlistment and charitable activities was leaked to the media. RM expressed displeasure at that time, saying, "Next time, I will quietly visit a different temple."
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