Hong Kong legislature passes new privacy bill

Automated compliance and legal drafting

The Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed the Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Bill 2021. The law deals with doxxing which is the public release of information identifying an individual or organization.

The law empowers the office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to investigate and prosecute doxxing and criminalises these doxxing acts. It was observed that in recent years doxxing has become prominent in Hong Kong publishing private or identifying information about an individual for malicious purposes on the internet.

In May 2021, The Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Bureau published a discussion paper on the proposed amendments to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. These amendments included introducing an offence to curb doxxing acts, empowering the Commissioner to carry out criminal investigation and prosecution and conferring on the Commissioner statutory powers to demand the rectification of doxxing content.

Under the amendments, disclosing data without consent that could harm a person or their family now carries a maximum five-year prison sentence and a potential HK $1 million fine.

Many technology companies have criticized the legislation as being too broad and vague that could hamper operations in Hong Kong. In June, the Asia Internet Coalition, which includes Google, Facebook and Twitter, warned that tech companies could stop offering their services in Hong Kong if the proposed changes became law.