Korean gaming giants adjusting data collection policies
Changes are afoot in the Korean gaming industry in the wake of last month's massive Nexon hack that cost over 13 million MapleStory users their personal information. NCsoft has decided to stop collecting its players' Resident Registration Number (which is a Korean analog to the American Social Security number) due to concerns over privacy issues.
Korean gamers will still need to fork over the number to play NCsoft games, though, according to a report at ThisIsGame.com. Players need only an email and password to register for the PlayNC portal, but the RRN may still be required to verify that new registrants aren't bots, and NCsoft has handed off the collection responsibilities to a third-party agency. "We have acknowledged the importance of personal information for a long time. So we have collected minimum personal information and have asked another agency to do the sensitive information work including the RRN on behalf of us," said an NCsoft official.
ThisIsGame also reports that NHN Hangame has decided to stop collecting personal information, while Nexon and Neowiz are formulating new collection policies.
