South Korean police have arrested a group of individuals who created a mobile application that enabled over 6,400 brothels to collect and divide the phone numbers of millions of buyers of escort services. The operators of the disputed mobile application are facing charges of violating the law on the protection of personal information and the law on the prohibition of prostitution.
According to reports, the application, which was developed by a 40-year-old man and his 15 accomplices, earned over $1.3 million, charging users a monthly fee of $76. During two years of its existence, the operators collected personal data of 51 million customers of escort services. To avoid repression from the authorities, the owner of a brothel created and distributed the mobile application among brothels.
The application allowed employers to track customers and get information about their sexual preferences, previous visits, and even receive alerts of upcoming police crackdowns. When customers visited such brothels and installed the application, the phone numbers stored on their smartphones were automatically uploaded into the database through the application. The brothels then used the data for commercial purposes, including marketing.
The creators of the mobile application boasted of its utility in shielding brothel owners from law enforcement. Although it is uncertain whether the application is still active, the gang of scammers behind the application may have used it during phishing attacks. Several buyers of sex were contacted through the application and subsequently threatened to reveal their personal information unless they paid the gang members a considerable amount of money.
The laws of South Korea allow for the prosecution of pimps, buyers, and prostitutes. The laws are, however, not sufficient in curbing the vice as the industry has adjusted. Sex is currently sold in the form of spam messages that call for the recipients to contact the brothels to receive the service.