Hong Kong has one of the oldest privacy laws in the world, and The Office of the Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner has recently been very active in shaping the ongoing evolution of Hong Kong’s data privacy regime. The past few weeks have seen the Privacy Commissioner publish detailed commentary on the forthcoming update to the key privacy statute and two new sets of guidelines aimed at data users.

(A) The Personal Data (Privacy) (Amendment) Bill

The Personal Data (Privacy) Amendment Bill (the “Bill”) was introduced into Hong Kong’s Legislative Council on 13 July 2011 following public concerns arising from several highly-publicised scandals involving the sale of personal data without the knowledge or consent of individuals. As a result, there have been calls to update the law and to increase enforcement authority of the Privacy Commissioner.

In brief, the Bill seeks to regulate direct marketing and the sale of personal data as follows...

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