Protecting Personal Information in Data Hk

Data hk is the practice of gathering and analysing information that can be used for business decisions or policy formation. This information can come from both primary and secondary sources, including field observations, surveys or published reports. Data hk can be useful to a wide range of industries, and can help businesses improve customer satisfaction, identify market trends or increase profitability.

While data hk can be useful, it is important to protect personal information to ensure privacy and security. This is especially important when transferring this data between jurisdictions. Many countries have different privacy laws, and it is important to understand these differences before transferring data. For example, the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) requires a company to conduct a “data transfer impact assessment” before transferring data to another jurisdiction. The purpose of this assessment is to determine whether the data will be transferred in a way that would violate GDPR’s regulations.

In contrast, Hong Kong’s Personal Data Protection Act (“PDPO”) does not include a statutory restriction on the transfer of personal data outside of the territory. Instead, the PCPD requires that a person who collects personal data must fulfil a number of other obligations, including complying with the six data protection principles (“DPPs”). Those DPPs are designed to prevent inappropriate use of personal information and to ensure that a person has a reasonable level of confidence in the handling of their personal information.

One of these DPPs is that a person must expressly inform a data subject on or before collecting their personal data the purposes for which the data will be used and the classes of persons to whom it will be transferred (data use). This obligation can only be met if the personal data is collected. In order to avoid potential breaches of this DPP, it is important to be clear about the purpose for which the data will be used when collecting it.

The PCPD has also published a set of recommended model contractual clauses to assist in complying with DPPs and the requirements for data transfers. These are intended to be incorporated into contracts between data users, and are designed to cover two scenarios: a transfer of personal data from a data user located in Hong Kong to a data user outside of Hong Kong; or a transfer between two entities both of which are located in Hong Kong when the transfer is controlled by a data user located in Hong Kong.

The most critical issue in these contracts is the requirement that a data user must agree not to use the personal information transferred for any purpose other than those agreed with the transferring data user. This requirement is similar to the PICS obligations described above, and is significantly less onerous than the requirements under GDPR. However, it is important for companies considering a transfer to take legal advice in respect of these model clauses to ensure that they are compliant with the relevant law.