Selling Subscribers' Data for "20,000 Won a Case" ... Welfare Agency Employees Caught

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It has come to light that employees at the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service handed over personal information of industrial accident and employment insurance policyholders to moneylenders and illegal brokers in exchange for kickbacks. The agency was not even able to properly discipline those involved.

Reporter Kim Bo-mi reports exclusively.

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With 23.8 million policyholders for industrial accident compensation insurance and 20.49 million for employment insurance, the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service manages vast amounts of subscribers' personal data.

However, in April 2024, a regional branch of the agency sent text messages to several subscribers notifying them that "a leak of personal information is suspected."

The agency had belatedly discovered that an employee sold subscribers' confidential records to a moneylending firm.

According to internal disciplinary documents and court rulings obtained by SBS, Employee A, who managed employment insurance qualification data, received an offer in 2022 from a moneylender from whom they had taken out a loan.

The lender promised to pay 10,000 to 20,000 won per case and lower Employee A's loan interest rate in exchange for providing details on whether other debtors held workplace insurance and their employers' addresses.

Over the course of roughly ten months, Employee A pocketed 5 million won by handing over company names and hiring and termination dates of 344 subscribers to the moneylender.

The welfare service remained oblivious for nearly two years until notified by police following an investigation, but because Employee A had already resigned, the agency could not even issue a disciplinary sanction.

Regarding the case, the Personal Information Protection Commission imposed an administrative fine of 3 million won on the Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service in May, pointing out that victims suffered secondary damage, including being subjected to illegal debt collection.

In another case, another employee, Employee B, handed over the personal information of 22 subscribers to an "industrial accident broker" running an illegal claims ring, leaking identification details and wage records necessary for determining disability compensation ratings.

These unauthorized disclosures continued over 100 times across a three-year period.

Police referred Employee B and the broker to the prosecution in March, determining that the two pocketed 410 million won in collusion.

[Kim Wi-sang / Member of National Assembly Climate and Labor Committee (People Power Party): "I believe the fundamental cause is the absence of an effective management system capable of preemptively blocking and monitoring unauthorized leaks."]

The Korea Workers' Compensation and Welfare Service stated, "We have implemented recurrence prevention measures, including special training for all staff and tightened access privileges to sensitive data, and we will do our utmost to protect personal information going forward."

(Video by Kim Heung-gi, Lee Seung-hwan, Joo Yong-jin | Video Editing by Jeon Min-gyu | Graphics by Lee Ga-jin)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.