International/Regional Liaison

In recent years, the advent of globalization coupled with the exponential growth of e-commerce have resulted in huge amounts of personal data being electronically transmitted across borders everyday within a matter of seconds or less. A development as remarkable as this underlines the importance of maintaining closer relationships among data protection authorities around the world and to join forces in the pursuit of data privacy protection.

One of the major functions of the Privacy Commissioner as stipulated in the PD(P)O is to liaise and co-operate with overseas counterparts on matters of mutual interest concerning the privacy of individuals in relation to personal data. Since its establishment in 1996, the Privacy Commissioner has become very much a part of the international network of privacy and data protection commissioners attracting respectful attention from the international privacy community.

Memorandum of Understanding between HK PCPD and Korea KISA

The reporting year marked rapid developments in co-operative relationships towards addressing privacy-related matters in the Asia Pacific region. On 27 November 2002, the Privacy Commissioner took the unprecedented step towards regional co-operation by signing a Memorandum of Understanding ("MOU") with the Korea Information Security Agency ("KISA"). This is the first bilateral agreement on personal data privacy that Hong Kong has made with another jurisdiction to foster better understanding in research into the protection of personal data privacy in the respective jurisdictions. It recognizes the importance of international collaboration in reducing personal data privacy intrusion in the information age. The MOU sets out the common mission of enhancing co-operation and joint research as well as developing educational and training programmes.

Privacy Commissioner Mr.Raymond Tang and President of KISA, Mr.Whie-kap Cho signed the MOU in Seoul.

The PCPD will share experience with KISA in dealing with various common issues such as e-smart cards, cyber privacy, surveillance activities, consumer credit reports and public record information. Although non-binding, the MOU is a mutual expression of both parties' genuine interest in exploring opportunities for future co-operation. It signifies a step forward in the creation of a strengthened regional forum for the advancement of personal data protection that recognizes the realities of diverse legal systems and cultural backgrounds.

Asia Privacy Forum

The Asia Privacy Forum ("APF") was set up for the purpose of promoting data privacy protection in the Asian region. In November 2002, a meeting of the APF was held in Seoul, Korea amongst delegates from Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Macau, Malaysia, Singapore, Chinese Taipei and Thailand. The meeting marked the establishment of the APF - a forum for Asia - that will take into account the current development of data privacy in Asian economies and the uniqueness of Asia in terms of its cultural, social and economic aspects.

The objectives of the APF are to facilitate information sharing among member economies on global trends in data protection and bridge the gap between international conferences and the current situation in member economies. In particular, the APF can help participating members to better understand the specific issues that confront individual economies, to identify commonalities in those issues and, to the extent possible, coordinate efforts in reaching solutions on matters of common concern.

The main characteristics of the APF will be informality and flexibility. The immediate goal of the APF is to begin a process of information sharing amongst member economies. In order to achieve this, the APF has committed to carrying out the following activities:-

• hold forums and exchange information to identify and resolve legal, institutional and technical issues which need discussion at the international levels;
• organize working groups and conduct surveys and research to address and discuss in detail the issues involved;
• co-operate with other regions in various activities related to privacy protection; and
• conduct comparative studies on legal and institutional systems regarding privacy protection.
  

Working groups will be established to focus on current regional issues compiled from local issues raised by member economies. Potential subjects include data protection inventory (contacts, legislation, systems, etc.), promotion of public awareness and enforcement frameworks. As an active member of the Forum, the PCPD will work closely with KISA, the Secretariat of the Forum, towards achieving APF goals.