Korea Legal.org

By Don Southerton, KoreaLegal.org Editor
Well, Google Korea was back in the news–again. This time it was concerns that Google‘s AdMob platform collects data on an individual’s locations via smartphone applications. I hate to sound like a broken record that keeps repeating the same song over and over, but Google is a lightning rod for bad press in Korea. First, they need to recognize they have strong competition in the Korean market. Next, their domestic Korean and American HQ teams need to be highly skilled in coping with issues that attract scrutiny. They need a strategy. Of course, I have a number of suggestions and a strategy. Google, here’s a link to my private email LINK

SEOUL, May 3 (Yonhap) — Seoul police on Tuesday raided Google Korea‘s head office in southern Seoul on suspicion that the global search company had used its mobile advertising platform to illegally collect private data, officials said.

The Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency (SMPA) sent its investigators to the local office of Google Inc. in Yeoksam-dong, southern Seoul, at 10:30 a.m. to secure hard drives and other computer data related to the company’s “AdMob” platform, said the officials.

“The raid on Google Korea was carried out to confirm the allegations that Google’s AdMob platform was used to collect data on individuals’ locations via smartphone applications,” an SMPA official said.

The official said the SMPA will summon Google Korea executives as soon as an analysis of the confiscated materials and documents is completed.

Recently, suspicions have surfaced that smartphones powered by Google’s Android operating system collect data on users’ location, the names of wireless networks that they use and the density of those signals before sending them to Google.

In January this year, the South Korean police booked Google on charges of collecting personal data from Wi-Fi networks for its mapping service in violation of the nation’s telecommunications law.

Tags: Don Southerton Korea consultant, Google, Google Korea, Police Google Korea, privacy issues Korea Google

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