S. Korea top court orders Google to disclose shared privacy data
Published Apr 13, 2023 12:09 pm
SEOUL, South Korea - South Korea's top court ruled Thursday that Google must disclose details of any personal information of South Korean nationals that it had shared with third parties, sending the case back to a lower court.
The ruling comes in response to a 2014 lawsuit filed by a group of activists against the global tech giant and its local unit, Google Korea, demanding it disclose how their personal information was handled.
The plaintiff alleged Google had shared the private information of its users -- including some in South Korea -- with the American government's "Prism" intelligence programme, the Yonhap news agency reported.
An appeals court had earlier partially sided with the plaintiffs but ruled Google had the right to reject the demand in accordance with US laws. The case has now gone back to the high court for retrial, where the apex court's decision on this aspect of the case will be binding.
The Supreme Court said Thursday that Google's obligation to abide by US laws does not "legitimise" its practice in South Korea.
Under South Korean law, online service providers must comply with individual users' requests and provide records of whether -- and how -- their personal data has been shared with a third party.
"Comprehensive consideration should be given to whether the need to respect foreign laws is significantly superior to the need to protect personal information," read the court statement.
Google will "carefully review" the court statement, Yonhap news agency cited a company spokesperson as saying.