About 7.1 million pieces of user information were leaked externally from the mobile game service operated by Japanese information technology (IT) corporations Line Yahoo.
According to Kyodo News and others on the 14th, Line Yahoo said that about 7.1 million internal identifier entries used to distinguish users in Line's game service were leaked to an external advertising platform. The affected apps are three titles: "Line Pokopoko," "Line Pokopang Town," and "Line Pokopang," which has already ended service.
The leak period was from May 2022 to Apr. 3 this year.
The leaked information consisted of random string symbols and did not include sensitive personal information such as users' names, addresses, or credit card numbers. Line Yahoo said that no secondary damage such as fraudulent use has been confirmed so far.
Line Yahoo said that during the process of transmitting data to an advertising effectiveness analysis platform, internal identifier information for distinguishing users was sent together due to a configuration error. It added that the advertising platform deleted all the information.
Line Yahoo identified the issue on Apr. 1 this year and conducted an investigation, and has now fixed the error.
Line Yahoo said, "We deeply apologize for causing significant concern and inconvenience to users," and noted it would work to prevent a recurrence.