Hong Kong’s Privacy Laws Slammed After Octopus Fiasco

Information surfaced last month that Octopus Holdings Pty. had sold two million personal data records to six insurance companies, without obtaining the users’ direct consent.
Hong Kong’s Privacy Laws Slammed After Octopus Fiasco
As you enter the subway you just put the octopus card on the reader and it registers where you enter the subway, then do same as you leave the subway.
8/4/2010
Updated:
10/1/2015

<a><img src="https://www.theepochtimes.com/assets/uploads/2015/09/octopus.jpg" alt="As you enter the subway you just put the octopus card on the reader and it registers where you enter the subway, then do same as you leave the subway." title="As you enter the subway you just put the octopus card on the reader and it registers where you enter the subway, then do same as you leave the subway." width="320" class="size-medium wp-image-1816573"/></a>
As you enter the subway you just put the octopus card on the reader and it registers where you enter the subway, then do same as you leave the subway.
The Octopus data leak has sparked public outrage over privacy laws in Hong Kong, with many voicing concern that their private information is being exposed and there are few laws to protect them.

Assistant Professor of Politics and Public Administration at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Dr. Wilson Wong, said that currently the highest penalty for privacy infringement is a fine of a few thousand HK dollars, which is an insufficient deterrent for large multi-million enterprises.

“The Hong Kong government should completely review the regulations,” said Wong, speaking at the weekly public forum in Hong Kong’s Victoria Park on Aug. 1.

Dr. Wong said that there has only been one case of monetary penalty due to privacy infringement. This indicates that little attention has been paid to sensitive data handling, considering that privacy breaches have been on the rise in Hong Kong, he said.

Member of the Legislative Council Emily Lau believes the current laws fail to protect citizens and leave them exposed to information abuse.

“We have reasons to believe that, a lot of citizens’ information is being abused; therefore, I call on the government to not take summer break; start working [to investigate] as soon as possible,” said Ms. E. Lau , while speaking at the August 1 forum.

Other lawmakers demanded that the large companies change the methods of data collection, calling for a more transparent process.

Chairwoman of the Liberal Party, Miriam Lau, agreed that using customers’ information for marketing purposes is commonly done, but it should be the informed choice of every customer.

“The Octopus Card is really absurd. First it’s the way they collect the information, making use of customer’s ignorance about the regulations,” said Ms. M. Lau.

“[They] lead the customers to believe that they are giving away their personal information for the awards only, and they are collecting more information than needed, and what’s more ridiculous is that they are selling the information. This is unacceptable,” she said.

According to the existing Privacy laws outlined in the 1996 document known as “The Ordinance” it is against the law to use personal data for direct marketing, unless the individual has been informed.