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Personal Data (Privacy) Bill
Following is the speech by the Secretary for Home Affairs, Mr Michael Suen, in moving the second reading of the Personal Data (Privacy) Bill in the Legislative Council today (Wednesday):
Mr President,
I move that the Personal Data (Privacy) Bill be read a second time.
The purpose of the Bill is to protect the privacy interests of individuals in relation to personal data. The Bill will also contribute to Hong Kong's continued economic well being by safeguarding the free flow of personal data to Hong Kong. This is because an increasing number of countries have data protection laws with provision to restrict the transfer of personal data to places without similar protection for personal data.
The Bill implements most of the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission in its report on reform of the law relating to the protection of personal data published in August 1994. That report was based on more than four years' work by the Law Reform Commission, including a thorough public consultation exercise in 1993.
In common with such legislation elsewhere, the Bill gives statutory effect to internationally accepted data protection principles. These are set out in Schedule 1. The data protection principles provide for: the fair collection of personal data; requirements that personal data be accurate and not kept for longer than necessary; limits on the use of personal data: security of personal data; openness by data users about the kinds of personal data they hold and purposes to which they are put; and for data subjects to have rights of access and correction with respect to their wrong personal data. Detailed provisions to enable individuals to obtain access to and to seek correction of their personal data held by data users in both the private and public sectors are contained in Part V of the Bill.
Part II of the Bill establishes an independent statutory body, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, to promote and enforce compliance with the legislation. Schedule 2 of the Bill makes provision for financial matters with respect to the Privacy Commissioner. It also gives the Director of Audit the power to examine the economy, efficiency and effectiveness with which the Privacy Commissioner has expended his resources.