Privacy Commissioner Responds To Ombudsman Investigation Reports

On March 24, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data ("PCPD") published a media statement responding to the Office of Ombudsman's investigative report on the Education Bureau's Nondisclosure of Teachers' Registration Status and its investigation into the Recovery of Debts under the Non-Means-Tested Loan Scheme. The PCPD commented that the Education Bureau should apply the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance when determining whether or not to disclose individual teachers' personal data and the exact personal data to be disclosed. The PCPD also rejected the Ombudsman's proposal that the Working Family and Student Financial Assistance Agency should forward the borrower's default data to an outside consumer credit agency because of the potential privacy ramifications when borrower data is sent to agencies operating outside of Hong Kong.