South Korea: Google must face consequences over victims’ data leak

Google must be held accountable if an investigation finds that it violated the law over the alleged exposure of personal information belonging to digital sex crime victims, South Korea’s gender equality minister Won Min-kyong said on Friday.

The sensitive information was reportedly published on the website of an overseas research project collaborating with Google. It was removed only after the South Korean government intervened and requested its deletion.

According to Yonhap news agency, the exposed information included personal details of victims who had sought the removal of illegally filmed videos.

“A platform with significant influence globally, like Google, has an even heavier responsibility to protect and safely deal with sensitive information of victims,” Won said at a press briefing. “If any legal violations are found, Google must take legal responsibility.”

“This issue should not be passed over lightly as a simple system error or mistake. Google must take the gravity of the issue seriously and take a responsible stance in front of the victims and the public,” she added.

Won said the gender equality ministry was working with the Korea Media and Communications Commission to determine whether any laws had been breached, including legislation governing punishment for sexual violence.

Google has apologised for the incident, saying it asked the website operator to remove the information as soon as the matter came to its attention.

As part of its follow-up measures, the company has also committed to not sharing deletion requests received from South Korea with external parties, according to the minister.

The controversy comes as South Korea considers allowing investigators to lawfully hack into websites that distribute illegally filmed sexual content.

Under the proposal, investigators would be permitted to access such platforms directly to remove sexually exploitative material, minimise further harm to victims and collect evidence.

The measure forms part of a joint response plan prepared by the gender equality ministry, the Korea Media and Communications Commission and the National Police Agency amid a rise in reported digital sex crimes.

Police investigated 17,716 digital sex crime cases between 2021 and 2025. The number of victims receiving official support rose to 10,637 last year from 2,087 in 2019.

Authorities plan to seek legislative changes granting investigators these powers, pointing to warrant-based systems already introduced in Australia and Britain.

The plan also proposes criminalising the operation of websites containing illegal sexually exploitative material and establishing a specialised investigation team to remove the content and trace those responsible.

Other measures include prohibiting advertisements on such websites and reporting overseas platforms that refuse to remove sexually exploitative content involving South Korean victims to the US Federal Trade Commission.

With IANS inputs