Data protection law needs to evolve to tackle privacy challenges, say experts
Government urged to catch up with information age and consider amending privacy ordinance to protect people without stifling opportunities
Hong Kong’s data protection law is “miles away” from developments internationally and does not fit with what is happening in society, critics have said.
The law needs an update to enable the city to tackle privacy challenges and embrace innovation opportunities brought about by the use of public data in the information age, to maintain its laissez-faire culture and reputation as an international business hub, according to a senior lawyer, a lawmaker and a scholar.
The government should engage the public in discussions on how the law needs to be amended to protect people from the “evil” of invasive background searches, known as “human flesh searches”, while avoiding stifling innovation and business opportunities with undue restriction on use of public data.
“I think that the [Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance] doesn’t necessarily fit with what’s going on in the world. I don’t think that the legislation is suitably developed to be able to deal with public data,” said Simon Deane, a partner of law firm Deacons.
Freedom of expression needs to be preserved but at the same time protection of privacy is also very important
Information law expert Dr Marcelo Thompson said: “Hong Kong’s data protection law needs to evolve beyond recent, localised amendments. It is not well suited at present to deal with problems related to the aggregation of public data. I trust few people would disagree on how harmful, for instance, human flesh search engines can be.”