A KORAIL employee has been caught accessing their passenger database to search up BTS RM’s personal information, including his phone number and address.
According to an exclusive report from SBS, KORAIL employee “A” was caught searching for BTS RM’s personal information in the company’s passenger database during an internal audit. Employee “A” not only looked at the specific ticket number that RM purchased, but also the phone number and address that were connected to the account RM used to register for KORAIL’s website.
Employee “A” started seraching up RM’s personal information in the database in 2019 and it continued until 2021. One example pointed out by SBS was that in January 2021, Employee “A” secretly viewed RM’s itinerary for his trip from Seoul to Dong Daegu. Employee “A” looked at RM’s itinerary and personal information a total of 18 times over the span of three years.
At KORAIL, customers’ personal information can only be accessed by authorized departments for business related purposes. However, Employee “A” worked in the IT department at KORAIL, which develops, operates, and maintains the database. Thus, Employee “A” was able to gain access to RM’s personal information and account for personal purposes. Employee “A” got caught when they told an acquaintance they were able to find out where RM was going, who reported them for suspicious behavior.
I checked RM’s reservation details and I went to see him in person.
My friend informed me where RM was sitting so that I could pick a nearby seat.
— KORAIL employee “A”
KORAIL conducted their audit after receiving an internal report that there was an employee who was looking into the personal information of celebrities via the company database without prior permission to do so. They confirmed that Employee “A” accessed RM’s information but were unable to determine how far the information spread to the public.
Employee “A” also leaked the personal information of a fellow male employee on a public broadcast without prior permission, an incident that the victim did not know of until SBS approached them with that information.
I had no idea, this is the first time I am hearing about this. It’s quite surprising…
— Victim employee
KORAIL’s audit committee reccommended that the employee should be suspended for violating their customer privacy regulations. Employee “A” claimed that they simply looked at RM’s personal information out of curiousity.
I simply looked at it because I was curious. I am reflecting on my mistakes.
— KORAIL Employee “A”
