In a significant regulatory action, South Korea’s data protection authority has imposed a hefty fine on a leading matchmaking platform following a large-scale data breach that exposed sensitive user information.
The Personal Information Protection Commission has ordered the company to pay 1.21 billion won ($815,400) after finding serious lapses in its security practices. Authorities stated that the firm failed to implement adequate safeguards to protect its membership database and delayed its response after the system was compromised in 2025.
According to a report by a news agency, hackers gained unauthorised access to the platform’s database in January 2025. The breach led to the extraction of personal data of more than 420,000 current and former users. The leaked information included highly sensitive details such as weight, blood type, marital history, phone numbers, addresses, education records, and workplace information.
The commission also highlighted compliance failures, noting that the company improperly collected and stored personal data, including citizenship ID numbers and passwords. Additionally, it failed to delete information of nearly 300,000 users that had been stored for more than 5 years, violating data retention regulations.
Along with the financial penalty, the company has been directed to take corrective steps to strengthen its data protection systems and fully disclose details of the breach.
Responding to the action, the company said it respects the findings and “deeply regrets that we failed to adequately protect our members’ personal data,” adding that the incident was caused by a “hacking attack that was extremely difficult to detect or prevent.”
The case highlights growing scrutiny on privacy practices and the importance of timely response and strong safeguards in handling user information.
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