Protective measures taken by the Hospital Authority which enhance the protection of new born babies and the accuracy of their personal data


1. The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Mr. Roderick B Woo (“the Commissioner”) welcomes the Hospital Authority’s pilot scheme which gives new born babies smaller and tighter identification tags attached to their wrists and that when an unauthorized person tries to carry a baby out of the ward, the tag will set off an alarm.  He views this as a continuing effort on the part of the Hospital Authority to improve security and to prevent a recurrence of an incident that took place last August.

2.    Last August, the Commissioner made enquiries into an incident involving a mix-up of two babies’ identities in a hospital which caused considerable public concern at the time.

3.   The Commissioner was subsequently acquainted with the details of the incident and the procedures for identification of new born babies in the hospital.  The Commissioner was satisfied with the implementation of the improvement measures suggested by the hospital’s investigation panel, and decided not to take any further action.

4.  Mr. Woo says, “The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance was enacted to protect the personal data of all living individuals no matter how young they are.  Data Protection Principle 2 in the Ordinance requires that all practicable steps be taken to ensure that personal data (and in the babies’ cases their identification tags attached to their bodies) are accurate.  I am pleased that the Hospital Authority strives to comply with the requirements on an ongoing basis.”


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