Consumer agency orders SK Telecom to pay $67 per user over data leak

Korea's state-run consumer agency on Sunday ordered SK Telecom to pay 100,000 won ($67) in compensation to each user following its massive data breach earlier this year. The decision by the Korea Consumer Agency came after 58 consumers sought dispute mediation with the agency in May following a data breach that affected all of the company's 23 million users. In April, SK Telecom belatedly disclosed a major leak of universal subscriber identity module (USIM) data from its servers, prompting the company to offer free USIM replacements to all of its users and triggering an investigation by regulators. In August, the Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) slapped SK Telecom with a record of 134.8 billion won. "Considering the joint investigation conducted by the government and the private sector in July and the ruling by the PIPC, it was recognized that the hacking incident caused damage to consumers," the agency said. "SK Telecom holds responsibility for compensating individual consumers for the damage," it added. Under the decision, the Korea Consumer Agency ordered SK Telecom to