E - Privacy Principles

4.1

The operational experience of the PCPD, and the findings of research commissioned by it, indicate that there is a very real need for E-Business providers to devise rigorous E-Privacy standards, and associated best practices in personal data management if E-Business is to flourish in Hong Kong.

4.2

In promoting that objective the PCPD operates on the basis of a number of principles.

• E-privacy personal data practices should operate on the principle that what is illegal offline is illegal online. Applying this fundamental rule means that providers must ensure that online and offline personal data privacy policies are dealt with in a consistent manner.
• An effective E-Privacy Policy requires the provider to inform consumers of the commitment made to the protection of their personal data, and honour the responsibility that commitment places upon management. In essence that means providers should inform customers about what they are going to do to protect their personal data, and then do what they say they will do.
• Providers should instill the virtues of E-Privacy in their staff by providing effective training. The outcome of a programme of planned human resource development should be to establish E-Privacy as a core value of the provider's organisational culture that is reflected in the attitudes and behaviour of staff.
• The formulation of an E-Privacy Policy needs to be preceded by an investigation that maps perceptions towards the central issue of trust and confidence. Where any gap in expectations exists between the perceptions of providers and customers towards the capabilities of their systems, this perceptual gap should be addressed by the provider. Insofar as trust and confidence are concerned, the perception is
  the reality. It is the customer's reality that providers need to clearly understand if they are to influence their perceptions and gain broad-based acceptance from them.

4.3

It is suggested in this handbook that a methodical approach to implementing E-Privacy should be based on an effective model. Before taking a closer look at the model it is as well to address the issue of why E-Privacy matters.