Octopus' scandal may prompt HK's privacy legislation this fall

August 3, 2010 11:32 PM EDT

Following closely the scandal of Octopus which sold consumer data to for business interests, the Hong Kong government will strengthen privacy protection, Stephen Lam, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, said on Monday.

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Briefing a media conference on Monday, Lam said the government would consider increase the controls and penalties to ensure that corporations will act according to the authorization given by the data subjects.

The Hong Kong Monetary Authority (HKMA) on Tuesday approved the appointment of Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu, theexternal auditors, to prepare a report on Octopus Cards Limited (OCL).

The scope of the Report is to establish whether any third parties, including any related companies of OCL, had access to or received from OCL any Octopus cardholders' personal data, and if so, whether the use of such personal data was in accordance with the applicable laws, codes and regulations.

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The Report covers the period from the date when such personal data were first provided to third parties to the date of commencement of the review.

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An HKMA spokesperson said that the Report of the review will be submitted to the HKMA directly. The spokesman added that the report is expected to be submitted no later than 10 weeks after the commencement of the review.

In a interim investigation report released Last Friday, Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Roderick Woo urged Octopus to better protect customers' personal information.

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