What is Data Hong Kong?
Data hk is a collection of information that identifies a person. It is a form of personal data that may be collected by various agencies or organisations. Those who collect data hk have to comply with the principles of the PDPO, including those regarding consent and transparency. In addition, they must protect the privacy of individuals by keeping their data secure. They must also be transparent about their purposes for collecting and using the data.
The PDPO has specific obligations concerning data use, and these can be found in the PICS. One of these is that a data user must inform the data subject of the purpose for which they will be processing the data, and the categories of persons to whom it will be made available. In addition, a data user must seek the data subject’s express and voluntary consent before they can transfer the data to another organisation for a new purpose.
As a result of this, the law prohibits data users from making unsolicited direct marketing calls to individuals without first obtaining their consent. It is also illegal for data users to sell their personal information or to allow third parties to use this information for direct marketing purposes. A data subject can request a data user to stop using their personal information for this purpose by submitting a written request to the data user.
If the data user refuses to comply with a data subject’s request, they could face a penalty of up to HK $15,000. In addition, the data subject can make a complaint to the data protection authority. In recent years, the Privacy Commissioner has focused on investigating and prosecuting cases involving direct marketing practices.
Currently, the PDPO only applies to data users that control the collection, holding, processing or use of personal data in, or from, Hong Kong. However, a discussion paper published by the government earlier this year explored a possible change to the definition of personal data to include data that identifies an individual rather than just data about an identifiable person. This would mean that more activities – such as those undertaken by social media sites – could be caught within the scope of the law.
The data that can be included in this definition is wide-ranging. For example, a staff card that exhibits the name, company name, photograph and employee number of an individual is likely to constitute personal data. This is true even if the staff card is not used to identify any particular individual. Similar examples include CCTV recordings, logs of people entering car parks, and records of meetings that do not identify individual speakers or participants.
The Hong Kong public health database HealthyHK is a major data resource for policy formulation, needs assessment and monitoring and evaluation of public health services. It links together a variety of different health-related databases in order to facilitate the full and effective use of data for the benefit of the community. Its web-based interface makes it simple to access, use and interpret the information it contains.