Doxxing sentence a welcome deterrent
- Father of police officer was left to feel helpless, fragile and anxious about his safety after personal details were revealed online by former telecoms worker
The violence and chaos of last year’s social unrest prompted complaints about conduct and tactics from both sides. An egregious example was the cyber warfare weapon of doxxing, in which personal details of the victim are exposed for the purposes of intimidation or harassment.
Victims included senior government officials, police officers, their family members, protesters, journalists, and business and community figures.
A court has now punished the first person found guilty of doxxing during the anti-government protests. District Court Judge Frankie Yiu Fun-che jailed former Hong Kong Telecom worker Chan King-hei, 33, for two years after he was found guilty of offences including doxxing the father of a police inspector.
This kind of gratuitous victimisation is abhorrent. The judge’s remarks and the father’s victim-impact statement reflect that.
Yiu said doxxing could have a serious psychological impact on police and distress innocent family members. He cited the father’s description of feeling helpless, fragile and anxious about his safety.
The judge said Chan’s breach of his employer’s trust to access and share personal data when relations between police and the community were stressed warranted a deterrent sentence.
Following controversy over the outcome of recent court cases arising from the protests, a court last month granted an interim injunction to protect judicial officers and their families from doxxing and harassment. This follows similar injunctions protecting police and barring online incitement of violence.
The deterrent sentence handed down by Yiu is welcome. Doxxing may also be a criminal offence under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance punishable by a fine of up to HK$1 million and five years in jail.
From June last year to the end of September, the privacy commissioner handled 4,714 doxxing-related cases, as a result of complaints or surveillance. More than 1,650, or about 35 per cent, involved police and their family members and 189 involved government officials and public servants.
Members of the public who had expressed views for or against the government or the police each represented about 30 per cent of cases.
