Seoul: Chinese e-commerce platform Temu has been fined for secretly transferring South Korean users’ personal information to China and Singapore, the state data protection watchdog here said Thursday. The Personal Information Protection Commission (PIPC) decided to impose a fine of 1.36 billion won (US$970,000) on Temu during a plenary meeting Wednesday for violating the Personal Information Protection Act.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the PIPC launched an investigation in April last year into personal data collection and usage by Temu and AliExpress, two major Chinese e-commerce platforms expanding aggressively in South Korea. While the watchdog imposed a fine of about 1.97 billion won on AliExpress three months later, it postponed a decision on Temu due to insufficient data on its local sales.

Temu was found to have entrusted the processing or storage of personal information to multiple businesses across South Korea, China, Singapore, Japan, and other countries for product delivery without disclosing this in its personal information processing policy. Furthermore, the company failed to provide management and supervision, such as education on personal information protection measures, to the multiple partner businesses.

The PIPC noted that Temu did not designate a domestic agent, despite a daily average of 2.9 million South Korean people using its online platform as of the end of 2023. The company is also accused of making it difficult for users to exercise their rights by forcing them to follow seven steps to cancel membership.

However, the PIPC acknowledged that Temu has recently taken voluntary corrective measures, including revising its information processing policy, disclosing its domestic agents, and improving some of the membership withdrawal procedures.