Personal Data in Hong Kong
When a person uses personal data, there is a legal requirement to fulfil a range of core obligations under the Hong Kong Personal Data Protection Ordinance (PDPO). These are primarily defined by DPP1 and DPP3. One of these key obligations is to expressly inform the individual on or before the collection of his or her personal data of the purposes for which it will be used, and the classes of persons to whom it may be transferred. It is important to remember that transfer is a form of use, so this obligation must be fulfilled even if the data are transferred between entities within a single organisation.
The concept of personal data is a broad one, and there are numerous ways in which it can be collected, processed and used. It can include the name, address, identification number or other identifiers of an identifiable natural person; and information or data which can be linked to that individual, whether or not it is true or accurate. It can also encompass factors which relate to that person’s physical, physiological, genetic, mental, economic, cultural or social identity. This definition was established when the PDPO was first enacted in 1996, and it is broadly in line with international norms.
As a result, it is possible that a wide variety of data could be deemed to be personal data, and this can have serious implications for how a business collects, uses and transfers such data. It is therefore vital that organisations carefully consider the nature of their data before deciding how to treat it, and to ensure they are complying with the PDPO and the six DPPs which make up its core data obligations.
A recent discussion paper from the government explored some potential changes to the PDPO, including a change to the definition of personal data. This change, which would arguably catch a wider range of data uses, was mooted in order to align the definition with that of the GDPR, which has been interpreted by data protection authorities as applying to information that can be linked to an individual.
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