Last week, Chief Secretary Donald Tsang Yam-kuen and other local luminaries signed up for a new 'smart' identity card to replace the current one, as a four-year-long process began to provide new cards to all 6.9 million holders in Hong Kong. People aged 34 and 35 will be the first to get the new ones, because illegal immigrants tend to be about that age.
While the information on the new card will be similar to that which is currently displayed, the card will also contain a computer chip with a digital photograph and thumbprints of the holder. According to the government, only minimal data will be stored on the chip, with more sensitive personal information kept in back-end computer systems for the protection of privacy.
By coincidence, the mainland, too, is poised to begin a similar exercise, having passed an identity-card law in June. All 960 million eligible citizens will be issued with an electronic card, with vital personal information stored on chips that authorities anywhere can access.
Reflecting the size of the population, each Chinese citizen will have an 18-digit identity card number. Hong Kong ID cards have only six digits.
Chinese officials say that the new ID card will protect people's rights. By law, only the police can check a person's ID card. And officers must keep confidential any personal information obtained.
However, Chinese law does not give citizens the right to see or correct their personal information, whether it is stored on a card or elsewhere. In addition, there are no provisions regarding how the government or companies can gather and use personal information.
In Hong Kong, the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance gives individuals the right to access and to correct their personal data. In addition, personal data should be used only for the purpose for which it was collected or a directly related purpose.
