Coupang Wins Stay on 201.1 Billion Won Privacy Fine

What the commission found

The commission decided on the penalty in June. It concluded that Coupang had collected, without authorization, the online activity records of about 11.17 million members who visited other companies' websites and apps, and stored them in a database in a form that could identify individual users.

The court said the penalty could cause Coupang irreparable harm and that there is an urgent need to prevent it. It added that the suspension does not appear likely to seriously affect the public interest, and that Coupang's claim is not clearly without merit.

The breach fine stays

Coupang was separately fined 423.6 billion won over the leak of personal data belonging to about 37.5 million people. The company has also sued over that decision. However, on Thursday Division 4 of the same court, presided over by Judge Kim Young-min, declined to suspend that fine. It reasoned that the financial damage can be remedied through monetary compensation.

The same panel did suspend the commission's corrective and publication orders in that case, citing the risk of irreparable harm, until 30 days after the main ruling. The corrective order requires stronger safeguards against similar incidents, breach notifications to people who are not members, and a substantive role for the chief privacy officer.

The rulings leave Coupang paying the larger breach-related fine while the court weighs the lawsuits on the merits.