Caught up in a government crackdown on free expression, the South Korean company KakaoTalk gave police access to thousands of private user communications. The platform is wildly popular, serving social messaging services to 92% of smartphone users in the country, but the scandal cut its stock price by 8%, and drove nearly a half-million users off the platform -- and onto more secure messaging apps. ... On Monday, the CEO, Lee Sirgoo, vowed to reject government requests for user data -- even warrants from prosecutors -- and to take measures to improve data security, such as introducing end-to-end encryption and reducing the time data are retained on the company’s servers to 2 or 3 days. The CEO said, "If our decision is a violation of the law, I as the head of Daum Kakao, will bear any responsibility." ... Access commends KakaoTalk for taking these bold steps, and recognizing the need for extreme measures in the face of overbearing and arbitrary government surveillance (the crackdown stemmed from criticism of the President’s personal affairs).