Auction Co. is an

online auction An online auction (also electronic auction, e-auction, virtual auction, or eAuction) is an auction held over the internet and accessed by internet connected devices. Similar to in-person auctions, online auctions come in a variety of types, with ...

company based in South Korea. It was acquired by

eBay eBay Inc. ( , often stylized as ebay) is an American multinational e-commerce company based in San Jose, California, that allows users to buy or view items via retail sales through online marketplaces and websites in 190 markets worldwide. ...

on January 8, 2001.

2008 Security Breach

In April 2008, the company revealed that their customers' real name, username,

resident registration number In South Korea, a resident registration number (RRN) () is a 13-digit number issued to all residents of South Korea regardless of nationality. Similar to national identification numbers in other countries, it is used to identify people in various ...

, address, phone number, email address, bank account number, and purchase and refund log were breached in February. Originally, the victims were thought to be 11 million users, but later it was found that the private information of all members of Auction, 18,630,000 thousand people, was breached. Users filed a lawsuit against the company, but

Court A court is an institution, often a government entity, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between Party (law), parties and Administration of justice, administer justice in Civil law (common law), civil, Criminal law, criminal, an ...

denied the responsibility of the company.

References

EBay Shinsegae Group Online auction websites of South Korea Internet properties established in 1998 South Korean companies established in 1998 2001 mergers and acquisitions EBay acquisitions {{Commerce-website-stub