On September 2, KTown4u posted a statement on Twitter, claiming that Hanteo Global ignored their sales data after requesting personal information about KTown4u's customers. This information included the buyer's gender, age, detailed address, member ID, order ID, and tracking number, which Hanteo said was needed to verify the sales. KTown4u stated that they refused to provide this information. In response, Hanteo Global has now posted their own statement on their official website.
"Hello, this is Hanteo Chart.
We would like to share Hanteo Global's position regarding the claims made by Ktown4U.
Hanteo Chart, operated by Hanteo Global, has been a part of Korea’s K-pop history, living up to its name as 'the foundation of Korean music.' We always strive to provide the most accurate and reliable charts.
However, we have received reports and observed indications that the data provided by Ktown4U may contain 'data contamination,' such as duplicated sales counts or intentional inflation of numbers. To address these concerns, we temporarily suspended the inclusion of this data and requested additional information to verify the integrity of the sales.
Hanteo Global also understands the importance of protecting personal information, so we only requested the minimum necessary details. However, because some member information was unavoidably required, we were negotiating an NDA (Non-Disclosure Agreement) for the information exchange.
Unfortunately, Ktown4U declined our request for cooperation and instead issued a unilateral statement, which we find concerning.
As a result, we currently cannot fully trust the sales data from Ktown4U. To Include data without proper verification would not be in the best interest of our company, the artists, or their fans.
If, after going through the integrity verification process, it is confirmed that there are no issues with the data provided by Ktown4U, it will be included in our charts as expected.
For the sake of the artists who are working hard to deliver great music and performances, and for the fans who support them, we sincerely urge Ktown4U to provide accurate and reliable data.
Thank you."
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