CallApp, a free mobile app for caller identification and call blocking services, developed by an Israel-based tech startup, has been banned in South Korea for illegally collecting and mishandling users’ private data.

The Korea Communications Commission said Monday that CallApp had been terminated from service in Korea. It asked Google Korea to take down the app from the Google Play app store from Friday, according to the commission.

The KCC began investigating CallApp on allegations that it was illegally collecting and handling users’ private data after a Korean civic group, the Green Consumer Network in Korea, accused the firm of breaching the local telecommunications law.


CallApp, available for download only on Google Play, requires users to input their phone numbers and verify their identities via online accounts such as Google and Facebook. It syncs the information with its server and shares the data among the app’s users.

This means that if a person uses CallApp, that person’s phone number and personal information is automatically shared with other app users, without consent and notification.

The KCC advised those who have downloaded CallApp to request the app’s operator to delete their information via an email to support@callapp.com or at the website http://www.callapp.com/unlist.

By Sohn Ji-young (jys@heraldcorp.com)