Coupang Offers $1 Billion Compensation for Data Breach Victims

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Coupang is offering compensation worth more than $1 billion to all customers affected by South Korea’s biggest-ever data breach.

The country’s biggest online retailer said on Monday it would soon start offering vouchers worth up to 50,000 won ($35) to each of its 33.7 million customers whose personal information was compromised by the breach. The vouchers will include 5,000 won applicable to all Coupang products, 5,000 won for Coupang’s food delivery service, 20,000 won for Coupang travel products, and 20,000 won for Coupang’s luxury beauty shopping platform R.LUX.

Coupang Inc. is reeling from the fallout of the breach, which prompted a government probe and disrupted the lives of millions across Korea, with nearly two-thirds of people affected. The company’s billionaire founder, Bom Kim, failed to appear this month at a parliamentary hearing on the breach, with its former head of Korean operations, Park Dae-jun, also not attending.

The company said last week that it had identified a former employee who allegedly accessed the personal data of 33 million accounts. It said their investigation showed they retained user data from approximately 3,000 of those accounts.