South Korea Raises Data Breach Fines to 10% of Revenue

South Korea is preparing to significantly toughen the penalties for companies that allow personal data breaches. According to a report by a local outlet, the maximum fine is proposed to be raised to 10% of the offender's revenue.

This approach echoes a logic familiar from European regulation: tying sanctions to a company's turnover makes the fines meaningful even for the largest players, for whom fixed sums had previously remained a negligible expense. The bigger the business, the higher the price of careless handling of user data.

Unfortunately, we were unable to obtain the full text of the publication — the outlet's website met the request with an "Are we human?" check, so the details of the initiative, including its effective date and the exact conditions for applying the increased fines, remain beyond the available material. Only the key point is known: the bar for liability is being raised noticeably.

The measure itself reflects a broader trend of recent years — regulators around the world are increasingly moving from symbolic penalties to fines capable of genuinely affecting companies' financial results. Betting on a percentage of revenue means that protecting personal data ceases to be a formality and becomes a matter that directly affects the business model.

Source: Hacker News