EXCLUSIVE: Delivery Drivers Share Apartment Access Codes in Group Chat

[Anchor]

An SBS investigation has revealed that the access codes for the main entrances of apartment complexes and office buildings in Seoul's Gangnam area were shared in a KakaoTalk group chat involving approximately 200 delivery drivers. The Personal Information Protection Commission has received a report on the matter and has begun verifying the facts.

Reporter Kim Gyu-ri has the story.

[Reporter]

This is a notice posted on June 13 in a KakaoTalk group chat consisting of about 200 Coupang Eats delivery drivers.

Following the names of apartment complexes, the post listed building numbers, unit numbers, and four-digit codes. These were the main entrance access codes for over 50 apartment complexes and office buildings in Seoul's Gangnam and Seocho districts.

I will try entering one of the codes shared in the chat room.

The door opened.

This allows outsiders to easily access the residential areas of these buildings.

The person who posted the notice was a "team leader" in charge of managing the drivers. A delivery driver, identified as A, expressed concerns regarding personal information and security, and requested that the list be deleted.

[Delivery Driver A: Just counting the ones I checked, there are conservatively over 50 security codes for office building entrances.]

However, it was not the list of passwords that was deleted from the chat room, but rather Driver A.

[Delivery Driver A: An hour after I raised the issue, I was forcibly removed from the work group chat.]

In a phone call with SBS, the team leader who posted the notice explained, "I posted it to improve work efficiency for delivery drivers, as time is directly linked to their earnings, but I deleted it immediately after concerns were raised."

The team leader added that they had simply shared information received from other group chats where drivers from various delivery platforms congregate.

While there have been instances where individual delivery drivers have written down entrance codes on the edges of keypads, this is the first time it has been revealed that such a compiled list was shared via social media.

[Lee Seong-yong / Yeonsu-gu, Incheon: I think the mere fact that access codes are being shared is unsettling. You never know how it might be misused.]

[Seong So-hyun / Songpa-gu, Seoul: Women living alone might feel scared, thinking that anyone could freely come and go right up to their front door.]

The Personal Information Protection Commission has received a report from Driver A and has launched an investigation into the facts.

[Hwang Seok-jin / Professor at Dongguk University's Graduate School of Information Security: Documenting and sharing this information goes beyond a simple matter of convenience and is highly likely to be a violation of the Personal Information Protection Act.]

Coupang Eats stated, "This is not a list compiled by Coupang Eats, and delivery-related information is provided only on a limited basis for up to 20 minutes after a delivery is completed."

Reported by Kim Gyu-ri | Video by Kim Young-hwan | Video Editing by Ahn Yeo-jin | Graphics by Jo Su-in and Kim Ye-ji
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.