Google used an outside contractor to review requests from digital sex-crime victims seeking removal of abusive material, according to an exclusive report by MBC. The requests contained highly sensitive details, including names, email addresses and URLs for the reported videos, but victims were not told that a third-party company could handle their information, the broadcaster reported.
The disclosure adds another layer to an earlier controversy over 47 removal requests that Google sent to a research institution in the United States. MBC reported that personally identifiable information belonging to 15 victims has so far been found among the exposed material. The broadcaster said the contractor operated between Google and the research institution, reviewing removal requests on Google's behalf.
Google had previously attributed the disclosure to reviewers who failed to follow its rules. According to MBC, those reviewers were employees of the outside contractor rather than Google's own staff. The report did not identify the contractor or provide details about where it operated, so the wider scope of third-party access remains unclear.
Third-party access raises questions about safeguards
Privacy specialists and victim advocates warned that outsourcing such reviews can create additional risks when access controls and de-identification safeguards cannot be verified. Hwang Seok-jin, a professor at Dongguk University's Graduate School of International Information Security, told MBC that handling sensitive information through an unverified outside company could leave room for further leaks.
Kim Yeo-jin, head of the Korea Cyber Sexual Violence Response Center, said the disclosure of removal-request information could inflict harm comparable to the circulation of the abusive material itself. Lawmaker Lee Yeon-hee, a member of the National Assembly's Science, ICT, Broadcasting and Communications Committee, called on Google to communicate directly with victims and establish compensation and protection measures.
Google told MBC that human review is essential to making appropriate decisions on removal requests. The company said reviewers receive systematic training on procedures and tools, but the response quoted in the report did not address whether victims had consented to contractor access or specify what remedial steps would follow. Key issues now include the contractor's identity, the full number of people whose information was accessible, and whether Google will provide direct notification, protection or compensation to affected victims.