SITUATION
1:
REQUEST TO SHOW YOUR ID CARD
A request that you
show your ID card, without the requester making a record of
any information on the card, is not covered by the
Code. This follows from the fact that the Ordinance itself
is inapplicable to any situation where no personal data (meaning,
generally, recorded information relating to a living
individual) is involved.
SITUATION
2:
COMPELLING YOU TO
PROVIDE YOUR ID CARD NUMBER OR COPY
|
If
you are asked by a public officer to provide your ID
card number, you should provide it.
|
Except with legal
authority, no one can compel you to provide your ID card number
or copy. As a general matter, public officers e.g. Police
and Immigration officers and Post Office staff, are authorised
by law to compel provision of ID card numbers by individuals
in their dealings with Government. Hence, if you are asked
by a public officer in your dealings with Government
to provide your ID card number, you should provide
it.
SITUATION
3:
SERVICE CONDITIONAL UPON PROVISION OF ID CARD NUMBER OR
COPY
Organisations often
make provision of your ID card number or copy a condition
of providing service to you. In such a situation, there is
no compulsion.
The Code cannot generally
prohibit organisations from imposing such a condition in providing
services. However, they should do this only if they are seeking
to collect your ID card number or copy under one of the general
circumstances where this is permitted under the Code (see
below).
Organisations
should consider alternatives that are less privacy intrusive
e.g. the collection of a monetary deposit, before recording
an ID card number. |
SITUATION
4:
REQUEST TO RECORD YOUR ID CARD NUMBER
The Code requires organisations,
before recording an ID card number, to consider alternatives
that are less privacy intrusive.
Action you
can take: If you are not happy about a request to provide
your ID card number, suggest to the requestor alternatives
that are reasonable and acceptable to you. Possible alternatives
include the collection of a different number, such as a passport
number, or providing a deposit of money, or arranging for
identification of yourself by someone else who is already
known to the organisation.
An organisation may
be contravening the Code if it refuses to accept an
alternative such as these without a good explanation.
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