South Korea's Ministry of Gender Equality and Family stated on Wednesday that it is considering filing a formal complaint against Alphabet, the parent company of Google, over an alleged leak of personal information belonging to victims of digital sexual crimes.

The leaked data, which surfaced on a website tied to an overseas research project conducted in partnership with Google, was not removed until the ministry, along with the Korea Communications Standards Commission, issued a request for its deletion.

The compromised information pertained to individuals who had applied for the removal of illegally filmed spy-cam videos. Google has since apologized to those affected, emphasizing that its policy prohibits providing such personal data to external websites, and that it promptly urged the site operators to take down the content upon learning of the incident.

The ministry confirmed that it is currently reviewing which legal provisions could apply to the case, with the complaint expected to be lodged either by the ministry itself or through its affiliated body, the Korean Women's Human Rights Institute.