Weverse Company CEO Issues Apology Over Personal Information Leak

Weverse Company has released a lengthy statement apologizing for a recent incident involving the leak of personal information.

Previously, a former Weverse Company employee (hereafter referred to as “A”) recently leaked the personal information of a fan (hereafter referred to as “B”), who had applied to a RIIZE fan signing event, to an acquaintance. This fact became known when “B” posted a message on her X account on December 31 of last year, titled, “I request improvements to the fairness of event operations and the overall internal personal information management system.”

According to “B,” Weverse Company initially explained that no personal information other than her name had been leaked, but they later belatedly admitted that additional personal information had in fact been disclosed. “B” emphasized, “In addition, I was offered cash credits worth approximately 100,000 won (approximately $69) in connection with this matter, but I felt this was a conciliatory form of compensation that obscures the essence of the issue, and therefore it is unnecessary. What I am asking for is not compensation but structural improvements to prevent recurrence.”

Following the issue, Weverse Company released the following statement on January 5.

Hello,This is Choi Jun Won, CEO of Weverse Company.

Recently, it was confirmed that an internal employee of Weverse Company unlawfully leaked another person’s personal information and attempted to use it for private purposes.

We recognize this matter as a serious issue that goes beyond an individual employee’s misconduct and reflects significant responsibility on Weverse Company for inadequate internal management. We sincerely apologize to the fans who trusted and used Weverse Company.

The company promises to responsibly implement measures to prevent recurrence in order to restore trust and to actively reflect improvements in future fan events.

Below, we provide details regarding the confirmed facts of the incident, the measures taken, and our future response.

1. Measures Regarding the Employee Who Leaked Personal Information

This incident was identified during face-to-face, written, and forensic investigations into misconduct by a staff member.

An employee from a department responsible for fan events1) Inquired with a related department that operates fan sign events unrelated to their assigned duties about whether a specific applicant had been selected as a winner for a fan sign event. The employee then guided the conversation to additionally confirm the applicant’s year of birth beyond their name.The name and year of birth were shared in a private KakaoTalk group chat consisting of six people, including the employee and acquaintances who are fans of the same artist. The employee attempted to intervene in the event selection process; however, no actual intervention or changes were made, and it was confirmed that the applicant ultimately won and participated in the event.

2) Additionally, it was confirmed that for personal purposes, the employee screencapped a list of winners for a specific public broadcast event and shared the names, dates of birth, and phone numbers of 30 winners in the same private group chat.In relation to this matter, the company is conducting an in-depth investigation into whether there were any instances of obstruction of business or illegal activity aimed at enabling specific individuals to participate in fan events, including public broadcasts handled by the employee. The company has also requested a thorough investigation by law enforcement authorities.

For both cases 1) and 2), the company has completed the procedures required under relevant laws to notify affected users whose personal information was confirmed to have been leaked.

In addition to the issues mentioned above, multiple violations of internal regulations and illegal acts—such as breach of fiduciary duty and obstruction of business—were identified during the investigation.Accordingly, the company immediately removed the employee from their duties, referred the matter to the personnel committee, and filed a criminal complaint. The company will take strict action in accordance with legal procedures and will faithfully cooperate with any requests for investigation from law enforcement authorities.

2. Measures to Prevent Recurrence

Weverse does not regard this incident as merely the problem of a single individual. We recognize it as a serious matter that has undermined the trust built over time regarding fan event operations and personal information management.In response, the company is comprehensively reviewing its management systems and employee training and implementing improvements to prevent recurrence.

Following an investigation into fan event processes, we will promptly address any deficiencies identified. Investigations into relevant departments are currently underway, and we will quickly identify and implement system overhauls and institutional improvements not only related to this incident but across the entire process.

To this end, we have formed an internal task force and begun discussions, reviewing the entire process from advance notices to winner selection and announcements.We will proceed swiftly with improvements to address fans’ concerns and prevent similar issues from occurring again, and we will share details of these improvements at a later date.

As a first step, system improvements are underway to more strictly limit access rights to the fan event system currently in use, as well as to restrict individual employees’ access to personal information on a per-event basis.In addition, we plan to strengthen supervisory oversight by senior management for each event regarding the winner selection process and the management of related materials.Overall improvement measures, including these, will be developed through sufficient consultation with partner companies within a scope that does not hinder actual operations including artist safety.

We will further strengthen education on personal information protection standards for employees and continuously improve internal management systems.We plan to introduce enhanced re-training programs that reinforce existing personal information protection education for all Weverse employees. In addition, for employees who handle user personal information, we will raise awareness through security training focused on real incident cases.Through re-evaluation of current work processes and systems, we will comprehensively improve the work environment to ensure personal information is handled more securely and strengthen overall security levels. For personnel handling personal information, we will reinforce security controls and operate a more stringent, continuous monitoring environment.

Weverse will prioritize responsible service operation and strive to become a platform that fans can once again trust and use with confidence.

We will listen more carefully to fans’ opinions and do our utmost to carry out improvements with a strong sense of responsibility.

Additional suggestions can be sent to [email protected], which will be of great help in our improvement efforts. Furthermore, if there are reports or matters requiring verification, we will endeavor to ensure they are clearly addressed through the company and relevant authorities.

Thank you.