Stalking problem will worsen without legislation, privacy watchdog warns

The head of the privacy watchdog says the government's move to abandon the introduction of an anti-stalking law after 14 years of debate is a "disappointing" setback that will leave victims without much-needed protection.

A law that made stalking a criminal offence was long overdue as existing data privacy laws were not enough to protect those suffering at the hands of stalkers, privacy commissioner Allan Chiang Yam-wang told the yesterday.

The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau said in a paper to lawmakers on Tuesday that: "The administration is of the view that there are no favourable conditions for us to pursue the matter further."

The idea was put forward by the Law Reform Commission in 2000, but officials had failed to identify a way of legislating that had majority support from the public, the paper said. Lawmakers will debate the matter next week, after which the idea is expected to be put to bed.

But Chiang said stalking was on the rise, a "symptom" of the lack of legislation, and that new technology would compound the problem.

"It is disappointing," he said. "[Stalking] is a problem in society that will only get more serious as technology advances … legislation is the best way to solve this."

Chiang said there was no point waiting for "favourable conditions" as it would then be too late to reverse the trend.