Why does Kapp call for class actions and collective actions in Company A’s data breach?

Mr. Kwak discusses the need for class action lawsuits and collective action systems to redress victims’ rights and hold companies accountable in the wake of Company A’s data breach.

 

Tens of thousands of subscribers, including Kwak, provided personal information to Company A’s online job site. Someone realized that Company A’s system management was weak and created a link file and posted it on his blog. This allowed many people to freely view the subscribers’ information. When Mr. K found out, he demanded that Company A stop operating the site and compensate him, but Company A refused. He considered filing a lawsuit, but was hesitant because the cost would be small compared to the compensation he would receive. He recruited people to join the lawsuit through an online cafe, and eventually had more than 100 subscribers. Together with them, he filed a joint lawsuit to demand that Company A shut down the site and compensate for the damages.
A joint lawsuit is a lawsuit with multiple parties. It is a way to consider and proceed with lawsuits that can be pursued individually in a single procedure, and it has the advantage of economical and efficient collective relief. However, if the number of parties is too large, it is cumbersome to proceed at once, so in practice, they usually appoint a common lawyer to handle the case. You can also use the named party system, which is to appoint a person, such as Mr. K, as the named party and entrust him to handle the case for everyone.
Since the process of joint litigation involves bringing together the interests of several people, it is important to reconcile the various opinions and interests during the litigation process. To do this, the named party must collect the opinions of each participant and formulate a litigation strategy based on them. It is also important to share information about the progress and outcome of the case transparently, as the outcome of a joint case affects everyone involved. This way, participants can better protect their rights and interests.
In the above case, tens of thousands of subscribers were harmed, but most of them did not join the lawsuit because of the small amount of money they were entitled to receive. As a result, the total amount of money they will receive in the event of a victory will be very small compared to the enormity of the overall damage. This is an inadequate remedy and a lack of incentive for companies to improve their systems. As a solution to this problem, class actions and collective actions have been discussed in other countries.
Class actions allow a subset of victims to become a representative party representing the interests of all victims and file a claim against a company for damages. If the victims, including Mr. Kwak, file a joint lawsuit and win, only they will receive compensation. On the other hand, in a class action lawsuit, the judgment obtained by the representative party is, in principle, binding on those who did not participate in the lawsuit. However, it is not always easy for the representative party to initiate a lawsuit, as it is burdened with high initial legal fees.
The introduction of class actions is particularly useful in cases involving a small number of victims. For example, in the case of a large-scale data breach or harm caused by a defective product, a class action lawsuit allows people who may not be able to pursue individual lawsuits to speak out together. This can help hold companies accountable for their wrongful behavior and provide victims with real relief. Class actions can also serve as a wake-up call to society at large, encouraging companies to operate more responsibly.
A class action lawsuit is a legal system that allows a group of people with expertise and experience to file a lawsuit against a company to stop infringing behavior. In this case, it would have been more effective if a professional organization, such as an IT trade association, had brought the case. However, class action lawsuits are authorized for public interest reasons, which means that they do not allow individual victims to recover damages. Class action lawsuits are often used for matters of public interest, such as environmental pollution or consumer rights violations. It protects the interests of society as a whole and contributes to correcting unfair behavior by companies.
Recently, Korea has also introduced class and collective actions on a limited basis. First, the Securities Class Action Law was enacted, allowing people who have suffered losses from stock investments due to companies misrepresenting or manipulating their accounts to file a class action lawsuit. Later, collective actions were also introduced, but only for consumer disputes and personal information damage, under the Consumer Basic Law and the Personal Information Protection Act. The introduction of these systems has made it easier for victims to seek redress for their rights, and it has also led to more thorough management and accountability from companies. These legal systems also emphasize corporate social responsibility and promote more transparent and trustworthy management.
The introduction of class actions and collective actions is changing the legal landscape of our society. Individual rights are more strongly protected through these institutions, and companies are able to build trust through responsible management. This in turn benefits society as a whole and contributes to a fairer and more transparent society.