Google apologized after personal information related to the process of requesting the removal of recordings by domestic digital sex crime victims was exposed on an external site.
On the 9th, Google said in a statement under the name of Amanda Storey, vice president for Trust and Safety, Regulation, Transparency and Risk institutional sector, "We sincerely apologize for causing concern to victims and the public due to the unintentional exposure of information."
It added, "The company feels a heavy sense of responsibility for the deep wounds and pain experienced by the victims and the public due to this matter."
Google explained that its internal principle of not sharing sensitive information or specific details with third-party research databases was not properly observed during internal processing.
It said, "We immediately activated an emergency response system with the site operator and permanently deleted from the relevant server all notice-related items confirmed to have been exposed."
At the same time, it fully halted the transmission of notices to that site related to new legal removal requests received in Korea. It also explained that it blocked previously sent notices related to domestic removal requests so they cannot be viewed externally.
Google said it would share the progress of measures and technical remedies with relevant government agencies and victim support groups, and would also reestablish an emergency channel that allows victims to safely request removal.
Earlier, controversy arose after it became known that requests containing the names and contact information of digital sex crime victims who had asked Google to remove illegal recordings were made public on an overseas research project site that collaborates with Google.
In response, the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family, together with related agencies, began efforts to delete and block the exposed information and to prepare measures to prevent secondary harm.