A ‘One-Line Apology’? Government Reviews Possible Criminal Complaint Against Google Over Leak of Hidden-Camera Victims’ Data

South Korean authorities have begun reviewing possible criminal charges against Google after the names, workplaces and other identifying details of victims of illegal filming were exposed on an external website. The move follows criticism that Google offered victims little more than a one-line apology and presented no clear plan to prevent the leak from happening again.

The Ministry of Gender Equality and Family said on the 8th that Google had deleted or blocked more than 200 cases, including cases in which personal identifying information was exposed. The ministry said it would examine whether Google and the website known as “Site L” violated the Sexual Violence Punishment Act, the Telecommunications Business Act, the Information and Communications Network Act and the Personal Information Protection Act, and would take necessary action.

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The personal information, which victims sent while desperately grasping at a straw, instead created further secondary harm by identifying them more specifically.

The Korea Communications Commission is also reviewing possible legal violations by Google. It has summoned Cloudflare, another company identified as having passed information about requests to remove illegal filming material to Site L, to establish what happened. The Hankyoreh previously reported that deletion requests submitted to Google were transferred to a research institute affiliated with Harvard Law School and then posted on Site L in their original form. Sensitive details, including victims’ schools, workplaces and phone numbers, were exposed before being removed.

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We sincerely apologize for the pain suffered by the victims.

The report raises questions about Google’s stated policy. Its deletion-request page says it does not share users’ names or other identifying information with Site L, but the information was nevertheless transferred. The Digital Sexual Crime Victim Support Center and the Korea Communications Commission’s review body, which submit deletion requests to Google on victims’ behalf, said they had never agreed to share the information with Site L.

South Korea’s Sexual Violence Punishment Act prohibits anyone from publishing a victim’s name, age, occupation, school or other identifying information without consent. The Personal Information Protection Act also prohibits unauthorized provision or disclosure of personal information learned through work. Lawmakers criticized both Google and government agencies, with Democratic Party lawmaker Kim Nam-kuk saying information sent by victims seeking help had instead created further harm by making them easier to identify. Google said it had asked Site L to delete the information as soon as it learned that some details had been shared unintentionally during de-identification, but it did not describe further safeguards.

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Google’s policy is not to share victims’ information with Site L, and as soon as we learned that some information had unintentionally been shared during the de-identification process, we asked the site to delete it.