Prosecutors Indict Pharmaceutical Company and Educational Foundation for Leaking Personal Data of 39,000 Patients

Employees and corporations of a pharmaceutical company who leaked patients' personal information from general hospitals have been brought to trial.

[Image source=Yonhap News]

The Criminal Division 4 of the Seoul Southern District Prosecutors' Office (Chief Prosecutor Kim Jeong-guk) announced on the 29th that university hospital operator A school corporation and pharmaceutical company B corporation were each indicted without detention on charges of violating the Personal Information Protection Act, among others.

Five employees of company B were also brought to trial on charges including violation of the Personal Information Protection Act and the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection, etc. (information and communications network infringement).

The prosecution identified that from November 2018 to January 2020, employees of company B extracted prescription records containing personal information of approximately 39,000 patients from four general hospitals. The leaked data reportedly included patients' names, resident registration numbers, physical information, diagnoses, and prescribed medications.

A prosecution official stated, "We will do our best to maintain the prosecution so that the defendants receive appropriate sentences."

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