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ARTICLE · 10 AUGUST 2020

Handling Data Access Requests In Hong Kong Employment Disputes

Mayer Brown
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The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO) provides every data subject, among other things, the right to access their personal data held by a data user. By making a data access request (DAR)...

Hong KongPrivacy
Duncan Abate
Duncan Abate
Hong Tran
Hong Tran
Jennifer C. W. Tam
Jennifer C. W. Tam
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The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO) provides every data subject, among other things, the right to access their personal data held by a data user. By making a data access request (DAR), a data subject can ascertain from the data user whether it holds their personal data and to obtain a copy of that data.

In the employment context, the data subject is the employee and the data user is the employer. It is not unusual for an employee to make a DAR to seek information in respect of their employment before or during a complaint or legal proceeding against their employer. This may sometimes be done as a way to fish for information and/or to cause inconvenience to the employer.

So what should an employer do when they receive a DAR? Is it mandatory for the employer to respond to a DAR and/or to provide all the documents requested?

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