Whether a social worker is obliged to disclose his identity card number in a statutory form when he made an application to court using that form.

Q: I am a social worker. In the course of discharging my professional duties, I might have to make an application to a court for a particular court order. The relevant application requires the use of a specified statutory form. The particulars of the statutory form to be filled in by the social worker include his identity card number. The use of the statutory form is mandatory under the relevant ordinance. Pursuant to the provisions of the same ordinance, the said statutory form would have to be disclosed to third parties affected by the application. The question is whether the above arrangement contravenes any provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.

A: As rightly pointed out by you, the collection and disclosure of Hong Kong identity card number appears to be mandated under the Ordinance in question. Even though our Office has issued the Code of Practice on the Identity Card Number and Other Personal Identifiers ("the Code"), the Code governs only the handling of the identity card number in the absence of any statutory provisions to the contrary. In the circumstances, the arrangement sanctioned by the relevant Ordinance is unlikely to constitute contravention of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance or the Code made thereunder.