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Appeal trial ruling in the Home Plus case on the illegal sale of
consumers’ personal information |
2019/1/24
In a lawsuit filed by the Korea National Council of Consumer Organizations against the sale by Home Plus of personal information to Shinhan Life Insurance and Lina Korea, the appellate court (Seoul High Court 2017 No. 2000337 (37th Civil Affairs Department (Da)) on Nov. 28th, 2018 canceled the first trial court’s ruling of a defeat for the plaintiff and took the consumers’ side. The court sentenced the defendant Home Plus and the insurance companies to pay up to 300,000 KRW, depending on the type of consumer damage. The ruling was confirmed on December 12th, 2018, forcing Home Plus and the insurance companies to pay a total of 87,700,000 KRW to 461 of the 683 plaintiffs.
{FT53} However, the court dismissed all claims of the 222 Family Card members whose personal information was not clearly identified as having been provided. In order to be held liable for the tort, the existence of the perpetrating act, the intention of the perpetrator, the negligence and ability of responsibility, the illegality, the damages and the causality requirements must all be proved. Regarding the responsibility for the tort under the special act, as the burden of proof is shifted and limited only to the willful and negligence requirements, the burden of proving the fact that personal information has been provided to the insurance company lies with the consumers claiming this, and they cannot be seen as a victim of the tort unless they can prove this has occurred. In response, the National Council of Consumer Organizations filed an appeal petition on December 12th for the 222 Family Card members who were dismissed. |
