Nearly 119 million pieces of personal data were found to have been leaked from major local firms and the government over the past two years and eight months, a government report showed Thursday.

A total of 118.64 million files containing personal information have been stolen since the law on protecting personal information came into force in September 2011, according to the home ministry report.

The report released by Rep. Lee No-gun of the ruling Saenuri Party showed that a total of 42 cases of data breaches happened in the same period, with 23 cases occurring this year alone.

The largest-ever data theft came to light in early 2014 when some 83.58 million cases of personal client information were leaked from three major card firms -- KB Kookmin Card Co. NH Card and Lotte Card Co.

The ministry report also showed that some 81,000 pieces of personal information were leaked from the country's largest carmaker, Hyundai Motor Co., and some 200,000 from local department store chain AK Plaza.

Moreover, private information of some 128,000 people were leaked from the Ministry of Employment and Labor.

"People's right to know was violated, and their anxiety and distrust were aggravated as the relevant firms do not release details of the leakage despite a sharp rise in personal information leaks," Lee said. (Yonhap)