Sell ​​your personal information... ‘Timeef’ continues to withdraw

Confirmation posts one after another on SNS… There was also advice to “change personal information to false information and then withdraw”.
Legal world: “Information leakage and illegal trading occur frequently… mandatory provisions must be established”

The aftermath of the delayed settlement of Timon and WeMakePrice (TimePrice) is leading to a process of withdrawal from the website. This is due to concerns that personal information may be leaked or sold illegally if the security management of a company on the brink of bankruptcy is lax.

According to Asia Today's coverage on the 29th, since the so-called 'TimePrice Incident', there have been a series of posts on social media providing information on how to certify withdrawal from TimPorn and WeMakePrice or completely disconnect from other SNS such as Naver and Kakao. As it became known that some personal information of subscribers may be kept even if they leave the website due to site regulations, some people advise changing all personal information to false before withdrawing.

Recently, this has been coupled with a large-scale information leak in the e-commerce industry, such as Chinese e-commerce platform AliExpress providing personal information of Korean users to Chinese sellers, increasing consumer anxiety.
 

As the controversy grew, the Personal Information Committee confirmed the status of personal information processing through the personal information protection officer (CPO) of Q10 Technology Co., Ltd., which was entrusted with the personal information management of Timon and WeMakePrice, on the 26th and announced, "To date, no problems related to personal information processing have been found."

However, the legal community agrees that strict monitoring by the government and consumers is necessary as personal information leaks and illegal sales occur frequently in bankrupt companies.

Bang In-tae, senior lawyer at Daeryun Law Firm's Corporate Advisory Center, said, "In principle, personal information held by a company is not transferred to creditors when it goes bankrupt," but added, "In fact, there are cases where information is leaked due to poor management of a company in danger of bankruptcy, and in the process, third parties illegally purchase so-called 'profitable' personal information."

Attorney Bang emphasized, "However, cases like this must be severely punished in accordance with the Personal Information Protection Act, and all those who commit such acts must be held severely criminally responsible."

Kim Myeong-joo, a professor in the Department of Information Security at Seoul Women's University, also pointed out, "In the event of a company's bankruptcy, all assets, including personal information, are monitored by debtors, and when they say, 'I will give you more money if you hand over the information data in the system,' there are many cases where they are handed over. Since the obligation to protect personal information is not specifically defined for companies that are in the process of going out of business or have already been dissolved under the Personal Information Protection Act, it is urgent to prepare legal provisions regulating this."

Professor Kim then emphasized, “Currently, the Personal Information Protection Committee needs to monitor the bankruptcy process in more detail,” and added, “Consumers should also continue to be alert.”

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