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1. What is Kakao's Privacy Policy?

Kakao Corporation (hereinafter “Kakao”) uses and provides the user’s personal information based on the user’s consent, and actively guarantees the user’s right(the right to control one’s own personal information).
Kakao complies with applicable laws, personal information protection regulations and guidelines of the Republic of Korea, which must be obeyed by information communication service providers.
Kakao’s Privacy Policy refers to guidelines on protecting the user’s valuable personal information which Kakao is required to comply with, in order to ensure that users use its services with confidence.

This Privacy Policy is applied to Kakao Services (hereinafter “Kakao” or “the Services”).

2. Collection of Personal Information

Kakao collects the minimum personal information to provide the Services.

The following minimum personal information is collected when a user signs up for the Service or while the user uses the Services, through the home page, individual applications and programs, and etc.

[Kakao Account] Required

email, password, name (nickname), profile picture, list of friends, KakaoTalk phone number (only for KakaoTalk users), contacts, history of service usage, history of purchase/payment in the Service

Optional

date of birth, gender, shipping address information (name of recipient, shipping address, phone number)

[To verify one's identity]

name, gender, date of birth, mobile phone number, telecommunications service provider, citizen/foreigner, encrypted connecting information (CI), duplication information (DI))

[To consent of legal representative]

Information of legal representative(name, gender, date of birth, mobile phone number, telecommunications service provider, citizen/foreigner, encrypted connecting information (CI), duplication information (DI))

[To use paid-services]

Payment via credit card: (part of) credit card number, name of credit card company, etc.
Payment via mobile phone number: mobile phone number, approval number, etc.
Payment via account transfer: account holder's name, account number, name of bank, etc.
Payment via voucher: number of voucher, ID of the relevant website

[To process refund]

bank, account number, account holder's name, email

[To issue cash receipt]

mobile phone number, card number for cash receipt

Some services may collect personal information additional to those collected commonly by Kakao Account upon the user‘s consent in order to provide specialized services.

• What is required information? : Information required to provide the fundamental features of the concerned service.
• What is optional information? : Additional information which needs to be collected to provide more specialized services. (Users still can use the Services without agreeing to provide additional information.)

See additional personal information collected in the Service See additional personal information collected for customer counseling The method to collect personal information is as follows.

In case of collecting personal information, Kakao informs the fact to a user in advance and asks for his/her consent. Personal information is collected via the following methods:

• The user agrees to the collection of personal information and enters relevant information when signing up for a service or while the user uses the Services
• Personal information is provided through affiliated services or groups.
• Personal information is provided via the home page, email, fax, phone, etc. during customer service calls.
• The user participates in online and/or offline events.

The following personal information may be collected while the user uses the Service.

Device information (OS, screen size, device ID, type of mobile phone, model name of device), IP address, cookies, date of visit, improper usage record and service usage record may be automatically created and collected while the user uses the PC web or mobile web & apps.

Kakao receives the following personal information from the third parties, based upon partnership agreements or affiliation with other services. See the detailed personal information received by the third parties

3. Use of Personal Information

Personal information is used to manage membership, to provide and improve Services and to develop new service.
Personal information is collected to the minimum extent required to provide Services when the user signs up for the service or while the user uses the Services, through the homepage, individual applications and programs, and etc.

• Member identification, confirmation of the user’s will to sign up, user and age verification, prevention of improper usage
• Confirmation of consent of a legal representative in case of collecting personal information of children under 14 years of age, verification of identity of the legal representative thereafter
• Message transmission between friends, friend registration and suggestion
• Notification of activities to friends, user search & sign-up
• Develop new services, provide diverse services, resolve inquiries or complaints, and deliver notices
• Send contents, etc. to the users of paid services, or shipping / payment
• Prevention and sanction of any act that interrupts normal service operation of the service
• Recommend customized contents based on demographic features, users' interest, taste and propensity, and utilized the foregoing information as marketing methods
• Voice-command processing and voice-recognition enhancing, customized service
• Statistics based on service usage record, frequency of visit and service use; development of service environment to protect privacy; development of customized services; service improvement.

4. Provision of Personal Information

Kakao does not provide personal information to any third party without your consent or unless demanded by applicable laws. Kakao entrusts the following personal information to a third party to connect Kakao Services to third-party services.

Kakao shall provide no personal information to any third party without user's prior consent; provided, however, that Kakao provides the foregoing personal information to the third parties within a scope required to provide affiliated services to users, only upon user's prior consent.

See the provision of personal information to the third parties The following affairs are entrusted to provide the Services.

Kakao provides personal information to third parties in the course of entrusting some parts of the affairs required for service provision. Kakao also supervises and monitors the entrusted parties to abide by the relevant laws and regulations.

See entrusted companies

Some personal information is transferred overseas to perform the following affairs.

See entrusted companies for overseas transfer of personal information

5. Destruction of Personal Information

The user's personal information is to be destroyed immediately once the purpose of the collection and use of personal information is fulfilled. The procedure and method of destruction is as follows:

Personal information stored in electronic file formats is to be deleted using technical means which make the information unrecoverable. Personal information printed on paper records, printed matters and documents is to be destroyed through shredding or incineration.


However, any information that is destroyed after being stored for a certain period under the internal policies is as follows:

• 1)The following information is destroyed after being kept for the maximum one (1) year from the date of user’s withdrawal from the Service.
  • Kakao Account and email address to which a withdrawal notification is sent to correspond to CS inquires and to transmit announcements shall be encrypted and stored.
  • Improper usage records
• 2)KakaoTogether: The following information is destroyed after being kept for three (3) years from the end date of project fundraising.(If the project is not selected, it will be destroyed after being kept for 90 days from the date of result announcement.)
  • Evidential documents collected while selecting support targets
• 3)QR Code Check-In: The information below shall be maintained only for the epidemiologic investigation period (4 months), after which it will be deleted immediately. However, the generated personal safety number is kept till the end of the COVID-19.
  • a name collected while you generate QR code and check in with it, the generated QR code, QR code generation time, QR code generator authentication information, Generated Personal Safety Number
• 4)KakaoTalk Wallet: Once certificate use is discontinued, certificate use history will be stored and then destroyed five (5) years after the certificate discontinuance date.
  • Name, date of birth, gender, personal verification value (CI), certificate data

Furthermore, Kakao separately stores or deletes the personal information of its members who have not used the Services for one year or longer in accordance with the expiration system of personal information. The stored information will be destroyed without delay after being kept for four (4) years.

Other personal information that shall be retained under the relevant laws and regulations are as follows:

See the detailed personal information storage under the relevant laws and regulations

6. Others

Kakao is committed to protecting the user’s rights.

Any user may view and edit his/her personal information at any time (via a legal representative for users aged 14 or under), and may withdraw his/her consent to collection and use of personal information, or request for the withdrawal of the Service at any time.


In particular, users can modify personal information or withdraw the membership via Settings in the Service. Upon any request via email, document, phone call, the Customer Center shall take measures without delay.


If any user requests for the revision of personal information, such information shall not be used or provided until the revision is completed.

In addition, Kakao also provides a page containing information on the user’s right protection in accordance with the Privacy Guidelines for Online Customized Ads.

See introduction/rejection of customized ads Cookies can be used to provide the web-based services.

Cookies are used to support a faster and more convenient use of websites and to provide customized services.

What is a Cookie?

A cookie is a small piece of text file usually set by the web server, sent from a website and stored in a User's computer hard disk while the user is browsing that website.

Purpose of use

Kakao uses cookies which save and retrieve user information in order to provide personal customized service. When a user visits the website, the website server reads cookies stored on the user's device to maintain environment settings and customized services. Cookies help the user use the website easily and conveniently by finding out the user's preferences. Also, they are used to provide customized marketing information by tracing the number of visiting to the website and use patterns.

Rejection of cookies

Cookie does not collect personally identifiable information automatically or actively, and a user has an option for setting a cookie. Hence, a user may allow all cookies by setting the option on the web browser; whenever a cookie is stored, the confirmation thereof shall be completed; or, otherwise, a user may reject the storage of all cookies. Provided, however, when a user rejects the storage of a cookie, then the user may have some difficulties in using a service.

Examples of Settings

• 1) Internet Explorer

  Select "Tool" menu at the top of the browser. > "Internet Options" > "Personal Data" Tab > Settings

• 2) Chrome

  Select "Settings" menu at the top right side of the browser. > "Show advanced settings" > In the "Privacy" section, click "Content settings". > Cookies

Kakao works hard to protect our users' precious personal information.

The protection of our users' personal information is our utmost priority. In order to protect users' valuable personal information, we at Kakao are making the following efforts.

• Users' personal information is encrypted.

  Users' personal information is transmitted through encrypted communication channels, and important information, including passwords, are encrypted when stored.

• Personal information is protected from hacking attempts and computer viruses.

  Systems are installed in areas restricted from external factors to prevent users' personal information from being leaked or damaged by hacking or computer viruses. A 24-hour monitoring system has been installed to detect and block any hacking attempts, and vaccine programs are being used to protect the system from the latest malware and viruses. Kakao is also continuously researching new security and anti-hacking technologies and applying the new technologies to our services.

• Valuable personal information is handled by minimum personnel. Risk of personal information breach is minimized by assigning only a necessary handful of people to handle users' personal information and by blocking work computers from accessing external internet services.

  Systematic standards are applied when creating and updating passwords in systems that store personal information database and process personal information. Standards are also applied to authorizing access to systems and audits are conducted on a regular basis.

• Kakao employee receive regular training on personal information protection.

  Training and campaigns on personal information protection and security are held for all Kakao employees who handle users' personal information.

• Kakao meets national and international certification standards on user information protection activities and systems.

  Kakao is verified annually by an independent auditing organization to ensure that we meet national and international certification standards on information protection and privacy management. The result of the audit is applied to any improvements needed.

  • See more about information protection certification

Kakao complies with the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as the domestic laws of each member country.

The following may apply when Kakao provides services to users in EU countries.

[Purpose/Basis of Personal Information Processing]

Kakao uses personal information collected from users only for purposes specified in "3. Use of Personal Information", informs users prior to any use thereof and asks for agreement.
In addition, Kakao may process personal information in accordance with applicable laws including GDPR in any of the following cases:

• Consent of the data subject
• Sign and fulfil a contract with the data subject
• legal compliance
• When personal information processing is necessary for the material benefit of the data subject
• For the pursuit of legitimate interests of the company (except for cases where the benefits, rights or freedom of the data subject is more important than that of the company.)

[Guarantee of Users' Rights in EU Countries]

As described in "Kakao protects your personal information", Kakao is committed to protecting your privacy. In accordance with applicable laws including GDPR, a user may request that his or her personal information be transferred to another manager, and refuse the processing of his or her information. In addition, a user has a right to file a complaint with data privacy protection authorities.
Kakao may also use personal information for marketing purposes such as event promotion or advertisements, for which Kakao obtains a prior agreement. A user may withdraw the agreement at any time if he or she doesn't want it.
A user may inquire the foregoing matters to the Customer Service via document, phone or email. The request will be handled in a proper and timely manner.
When a user requests for the correction of personal information, the concerned information shall not be displayed until such correction is completed.

Questions regarding Privacy Protection

For any inquiries, complaints, feedback or other matters related to personal information protection which arise while you use the Services, please contact the Privacy Protection Officer or the responsible department. Kakao will do its best to listen to you and promptly answer any questions you may have.

Privacy Protection Officer and Responsible Department

• Privacy Protection Officer/DPO: Chaeyeong Lee
• Department: Privacy Protection Part
• Contact :
  -. Customer Service: 1577-3754
  -. Melon Customer Center: 1566-7727

Please make inquiries to the following organizations if you need to report or consult in regards to the violation of personal information.

Amendment to the Privacy Policy

Kakao may amend its Privacy Policy to reflect any legal or service changes. Kakao shall notify such amendment in advance, and the amended Privacy Policy shall take effect seven (7) days after the foregoing notification.
However, any major change in user rights, including personal information items to be collected and the purpose of collecting thereof, will be notified at least 30 days in advance.

• Notification Date: Mar 24, 2021
• Enforcement Date: Mar 31, 2021

See past privacy policies

Kakao always entreasures users' information, and continues to exert its utmost efforts for users to use our Service more safely.