The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government is working with the city's privacy watchdog to table new legislation in an attempt to better protect the public, said Chief Secretary Henry Tang on Friday (Aug 20).
With the completion of the public consultation on privacy law revision last year, Tang told reporters the local government will soon table a legislative proposal for public discussion.
Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data's recent investigation into private companies' handling of customers' personal information will help the government fine-tune the proposal, he said.
"The recent incidents have aroused public awareness of privacy protection which requires joint efforts by the government, the public and the trades," said Tang, adding "the Government will put more effort in privacy protection and will give clear guidelines to various industries."
He also hoped the office will complete its investigation soon and conclude whether the companies' acts are legal or not and suggest whether the regulatory mechanism can be improved.
Recent investigation against the Octopus group of companies in relation to the management of customers' personal data brought public awareness of their personal data privacy rights to an unprecedentedly high level in Hong Kong.
Octopus Card, the city's mass transit refill cards, is widely used in the city to pay public transportation fares, as well as retailers who accept Octopus, such as convenience stores or restaurants.
Octopus Holdings had admitted earlier that the Octopus Rewards scheme, launched four years ago and operated by two subsidiaries Octopus Rewards and Octopus Connect, sold the data of 1.97 million customers to its six partners in the scheme.
Some 95 percent of people in Hong Kong aged 16 to 65 uses Octopus to travel, shop and dine, and over 2.4 million customers have registered for the widely adopted Octopus Rewards program, said Octopus Holdings on its website.
