Media Statements

Two PCPD Staff Members Receive Individual Awards in The Ombudsman’s Awards 2017

(11 October 2017)  Two staff members of the office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (“PCPD”) received Individual Awards for Officers of Public Organisations in The Ombudsman’s Awards (“Awards”) 2017 for their outstanding performance in handling enquiries and complaints.

The two PCPD awardees were Senior Personal Data Officer of Corporate Support & Enquiries Division Mr Anthony King-wai CHAN and Assistant Personal Data Officer of Complaints Division Mr Austin Chun-ting WONG. In handling enquiries and complaints, Mr Chan was able to listen with empathy and at the same time uphold principles of reasonableness, fairness and impartiality. When facing an unexpected data breach notification incident leading to a sudden upsurge in the number of enquiries and complaints from members of the public in a very short period of time, Mr Chan was able to deploy contingency plan and mobilise manpower under his supervision to deal with the imminent situation. He was always willing to sacrifice his lunch time and weekends to meet with or contact complainants, persons complained against (“PCAs”) as well as enquirers. Mr Chan believed that his patience in listening to their requests could help build mutual trust and respect.  For some cases without sufficient clarity, Mr Chan also exercised flexibility in handling with the aim of assisting the complainants as much as possible.

Mr Austin Wong was able to resolve complaints effectively by addressing the concerns of both related individuals and organisations with their respective rights and obligations under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance explained in a fair manner. He received commendations from complainants from time to time, expressing their appreciations to his close monitoring of their cases and expedited actions. He was willing to explain the cases to the complainants in greater detail after office hours for complainants’ convenience. With his patience and professional efforts, some complaints were resolved through conciliation or complainants eventually withdrawing their complaints. The number of appeals was also reduced.
 
The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (“Privacy Commissioner”), Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG attended the award presentation ceremony today (11 October) and  congratulated the awarded staff members: “I am glad that two of our staff members have received the Awards this year in recognition of their professionalism and positive approach in enquiries and complaints handling.”

 “As an independent statutory body, the PCPD strives to serve the public with professionalism.  The PCPD received over 18,000 enquiry and complaint cases last year. With the hard work and dedication of everyone in my office, we are able to respond to public enquiries professionally and efficiently, resolve complaints in a manner that is fair to all parties concerned and, ultimately, to protect individuals’ rights of personal data privacy.” The Privacy Commissioner said.

The Ombudsman’s Awards Scheme was introduced in 1997. In 1999, the Scheme was extended to honour individual public officers’ efforts in handling public enquiries and complaints.


Photo 1: The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Yin-hing LAU, presented the The Ombudsman’s Awards for Officers of Public Organisations to Senior Personal Data Officer of Corporate Support & Enquiries Division Mr Anthony King-wai CHAN. 


Photo 2: Assistant Personal Data Officer of Complaints Division Mr Austin Chun-ting WONG received the The Ombudsman’s Awards for Officers of Public Organisations from The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Yin-hing LAU. 


Photo 3: Privacy Commissioner Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG (right) and Head of Corporate Support & Enquiries Division Mr Daniel Chin-wah LEUNG (left) took photos with the awarded PCPD staff members. 


Photo 4: The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Yin-hing LAU (second left) took photos with the awarded PCPD staff members and Privacy Commissioner Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG (right). 



Photo 5: The Ombudsman, Ms Connie Yin-hing LAU (first row, middle) took a group photo with all the awardees at the ceremony.