Chinanews.com, Hong Kong, October 8. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government gazetted the "Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Ordinance 2021" (Ordinance) on the 8th, and the law that made malicious "criminal" acts a criminal offence came into effect.
Hong Kong's so-called "starting from the bottom" is generally considered to be similar to the "human flesh search" behavior in the Mainland.
The purpose of the Ordinance is to crack down on "start-up" crimes from three aspects.
First, the establishment of a new “prime” offence is aimed at the malicious act of disclosing the personal data of the data subject or their family members without the consent of the data subject, with the intention or recklessness of causing specified harm to the data subject or his family.
Second, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (Privacy Commissioner) is given the power to conduct criminal investigation and prosecution of "beginning" related crimes.
Third, to empower the Privacy Commissioner to issue a cease-disclosure notice, requesting those who have the ability to remove the "primary" information to stop disclosing the "primary" information.
A spokesperson for the SAR government said that since 2019, "starters" have used wanton disclosure of other people's personal data to crack down on people with different political opinions, just like weaponizing personal data.
The purpose of the Ordinance is to combat the malicious “bottom” behavior that has become more and more rampant in recent years, and to ensure that the privacy of citizens’ personal data is protected.
The scope of crimes established by the Ordinance is clearly defined, targeted and targeted, and strikes an appropriate balance between the protection of personal data privacy and freedom of speech.
On the same day, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong has gazetted the implementation guidelines for criminal investigations, prosecutions, and issuance of cease-disclosure notices for "beginning" crimes, as well as the ranks of persons authorized to exercise the above powers for public reference.
A spokesperson for the SAR government urged the public not to try the law by their own hands and try to make relevant "start-up" behaviors.
The Office and the police will step up law enforcement to protect the privacy of citizens' personal data.
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