London-based integrated agency Once Upon A Time (OUAT) has acquired IdeaWork Studios, broadening its offerings and expanding for the first time into the U.S. Headquartered in New York, IdeaWork specializes in branding and digital for the hospitality, luxury, entertainment, and gaming sectors. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
The addition of IdeaWork to the Once Upon A Time stable is the group’s seventh acquisition and aligned with its strategy to offer an independent, integrated approach from media buying and advertising to in-store retail marketing. The acquisition is OUAT’s first in the States and gives the agency offices in New York, Las Vegas, and Santa Barbara. In addition, the founder of IdeaWork, Jay Schwartz, will take on the role of executive creative director for the OUAT group, while retaining his position as CEO and ECD at IdeaWork Studios. Joe Garton is OUAT CEO.
Founded in 1999, IdeaWork is an established branding and digital agency that counts Michelin-starred chefs like Jean-Georges Vongerichten, Eric Ripert, Daniel Boulud, Charlie Palmer, and Michael White; boutique hotels like Ian Schrager’s PUBLIC and EDITION, RFR’s Gramercy Park Hotel, 11 Howard, and The Jaffa; and resorts like Gurney’s Montauk and Carillon Miami amongst its clients.
South Korea fines Meta $15 million for illegally collecting information on Facebook users
South Korea's privacy watchdog on Tuesday fined social media company Meta 21.6 billion won ($15 million) for illegally collecting sensitive personal information from Facebook users, including data about their political views and sexual orientation, and sharing it with thousands of advertisers.
It was the latest in a series of penalties against Meta by South Korean authorities in recent years as they increase their scrutiny of how the company, which also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, handles private information.
Following a four-year investigation, South Korea's Personal Information Protection Commission concluded that Meta unlawfully collected sensitive information about around 980,000 Facebook users, including their religion, political views and whether they were in same-sex unions, from July 2018 to March 2022.
It said the company shared the data with around 4,000 advertisers.
South Korea's privacy law provides strict protection for information related to personal beliefs, political views and sexual behavior, and bars companies from processing or using such data without the specific consent of the person involved.
The commission said Meta amassed sensitive information by analyzing the pages the Facebook users liked or the advertisements they clicked on.
The company categorized ads to identify users interested in themes such as specific religions, same-sex and transgender issues, and issues related to North Korean escapees, said Lee Eun Jung, a director at the commission who led the investigation on Meta.
"While Meta collected this sensitive information and used it for individualized services, they made only vague mentions of this use in their data policy and did not obtain specific consent," Lee said.
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