Data hk is an article from Padraig Walsh of Tanner De Witt that discusses Hong Kong’s interpretation of key privacy concepts and their application to cross border personal data transfers. It’s a valuable overview of the onerous obligations that a business must abide by when transferring data from Hong Kong to other locations.

The first step in assessing whether a data transfer is compliant is to determine whether personal data is involved. The PDPO defines personal data as information that relates to an identifiable individual. As a result, the pool of personal data that can be transferred is smaller than in some other jurisdictions. If an organisation cannot identify individuals in the data it is transferring, then the PDPO’s provisions on data transfers do not apply.

A business must also consider the nature of the personal data that is being transferred. This involves identifying and adopting any supplementary measures that are necessary to bring the level of protection in the foreign jurisdiction up to the standards required under the PDPO. Depending on the outcome of the risk assessment, this may involve technical and contractual measures such as encryption or pseudonymisation, split or multi-party processing or beach notification.

If the supplemental measures are deemed to be insufficient, then the business must obtain the voluntary and express consent of the data subject before transferring the personal data. This is an important and significant obligation under the PDPO. However, the process of obtaining consent is not as onerous as in some other jurisdictions. In Hong Kong, the data user must expressly notify the data subject on or before collecting personal data of the purposes for which it will be used and the classes of persons to whom it may be transferred.

This information can be communicated to the data subject through a Personal Information Collection Statement (PICS). The PICS must specify that personal data will be transferred abroad and for what purposes. In addition, it must disclose the name or job title and contact details of the person in the foreign jurisdiction to whom personal data will be transferred.

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