by REERA YOO
Lee Sirgoo, co-CEO of Daum Kakao, apologized to the public Monday for the messaging app’s initial handling of security issues and said it will stop fully cooperating with the government on its crackdown on online criticism, reports Yonhap.
“We would like to make an apology for causing anxiety and confusion to users due to our easy-going manner of coping with the issue,” said Lee. “We have been taking too much pride in our security, only believing that following policies would protect privacy.”
In mid-September, the South Korean government announced that it will be taking proactive measures to punish those deemed responsible for spreading malicious online rumors, particularly those surrounding President Park Geun-hye’s personal life. The announcement sparked fear among KakaoTalk users, who accused the government of censorship and monitoring their private messages in a real-time basis.
Daum Kakao firmly stated that it was not technologically equipped to offer the government real-time monitoring and provided a few additional security measures, but their efforts could not prevent a mass digital exodus of their users to foreign messengers such as Telegram.
According to the Associated Press, Daum Kakao received 2,131 requests for users’ information from authorities with search warrants during the first half of 2014, and it cooperated with nearly 61 court-approved requests by collecting messages stored on its servers for between three and seven days.
Lee said the company has stopped responding to court warrants authorizing wiretapping and collection of stored messages since Oct. 7, and will continue to doing so despite the possibility of facing legal sanction for refusing to cooperate with warrants.
“If our decision is a violation of the law, I, as the head of Daum Kakao, will bear any responsibilities,” Lee added. “We will come up with more elaborate detailed plans in the future.”
KakaoTalk has also recently adopted a new privacy mode that allows chat records to be stored solely on a user’s smart device, hindering investigators from accessing private messages. Starting next year, the messenger app will also introduce a new privacy feature that will delete chat records from its servers as soon as the messages have been read by their intended recipients, according to AP.
“We will continue to search for more necessary measures and make improvements down the road,” Lee said. “Kakao Talk has been growing on the back of users’ trust. We know it will take excruciating efforts to regain users’ trust.”
