The privacy watchdog has admitted the prosecution rate on complaints has been low and there have been few convictions in the past 12 years.
Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Allan Chiang Yam-wang said yesterday his office had met police and Justice Department officials to raise the matter. Commission investigators have also taken part in seminars to publicise their efforts.
'The prosecution rate was low in the past, which led us to conduct a review on every case we referred to police for prosecution,' Chiang said.
The commission does not have prosecution power and must refer cases it thinks warrant it to police.
Of the 1,179 complaints received last year, only 12 cases were referred to the police for possible prosecution. Only one case resulted in a conviction, four are still in process and seven cases were not prosecuted at all. A convicted telemarketing company was fined HK$5,000 in February in one case.
Despite more than a thousand complaints being made each year, only 74 cases have been referred to police in the last 12 years. Of these, 13 cases went before magistrates, leading to nine convictions and four acquittals, according to commission figures.
