BTS Privacy Breach: Airline Staffer Indicted for Selling Flight Data to Stalkers!

K-Pop Agency HYBE Confirms Arrests in Major Privacy Violation Case. Investigation Reveals Scheme to Sell Sensitive Artist Information to ‘Sasaeng Fans’

July 23, 2025: HYBE, the organization that handles BTS, a well-known K-pop group, said that one airline worker and two other people are being looked into for possibly sharing and selling private travel information about BTS and other artists without permission. This big event shows that HYBE is still trying to stop privacy abuses that have hurt K-pop musicians for a long time.

According to the public relations manager of HYBE, the Seoul Metropolitan Police Agency’s cybercrime unit arrested three persons, one of whom worked for an airline, between February and March. They are being accused of breaking the Personal Information Protection Act by getting artists’ flight plans without their knowledge and submitting them to web brokers. Then, these brokers would sell the private information to “sasaeng fans,” who are people who will pay to get near to their idols.

Reports said that the investigations found that the suspects had a history of getting bank records and other information in illegal ways. This showed that they were running a business that sold flight information for tens of millions of won. The case was sent to the prosecution over the weekend. The authorities haven’t said what jobs the defendants had or where they came from.

HYBE also said that this hurt more than only BTS. “The public relations manager said that other HYBE musicians and artists from other entertainment companies were also targeted.” This is a bigger problem in the K-pop world, where musicians’ privacy is regularly violated. “Hardcore fans” buying tickets close to idols to follow them on flights and other fans seeking to touch celebrities are two examples of how fans have abused their power.

The police and the group have been working together for years to stop these kinds of crimes. HYBE set up a special squad in September 2023 to deal with privacy issues that were getting worse. The task force received information from social media sites and gave it to the police.

HYBE made a bold statement on its zero-tolerance policy: “We will respond firmly and hold those responsible fully accountable, with zero tolerance and without offering any settlements or leniency, for the crime of commercializing and trading artists’ personal information.” This firm attitude is meant to keep artists safe and stop further abuse.