Plea to protect personal information
The privacy commissioner has issued the strongest call yet for a sweeping review of the law to guarantee that personal data protection in Hong Kong is put on a par with international standards.
Roderick Woo Bun made the call in the light of personal data on thousands of people being lost over the past two weeks and the publication of sex photos of various celebrities on the internet. He said this showed that parts of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance were out of date.
In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Mr Woo said his office had long assumed a 'persuasive rather than punitive' role but it was now time to consider deterrents.
'The basic principles on data protection we honoured are on a par with European standards; it is now a matter of how to implement them in existing jurisdiction. Maybe we will need a little bit more of the rod.'
Referring to the scandal surrounding Edison Chen Koon-hei - in which pictures of the star having sex with female celebrities appeared on the internet after apparently being copied from a computer he had taken to a shop for repairs - Mr Woo said the public 'should seriously consider whether or not to criminalise those who obtain or disseminate private data for personal gains'.
