PCPD - Privacy Commissioner Launches Privacy Awareness Week 2008

1.    The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Mr. Roderick B. Woo, is pleased to launch the Privacy Awareness Week 2008 (“PAW 2008”) today (25 August).

2.    This is a promotional campaign jointly organized by members of the Asia Pacific Privacy Authorities (“APPA”) aimed at raising awareness of the importance of protecting privacy in the Asia Pacific Region. Members of the APPA includes the Office of the Privacy Commissioner Australia, Office of the Privacy Commissioner New Zealand, Office of the Privacy Commissioner Canada, Office of the Information Commissioner Northern Territory, Office of the New South Wales Privacy Commissioner and Office of the Victorian Privacy Commissioner. PAW 2008, which comprises a variety of activities, is held from 24 to 30 August 2008 with the theme of “privacy is your business”.

3.    At the inaugural ceremony, Mr. Woo said, “This is the second promotional activity jointly held by the APPA. As the community is placing great importance on data privacy, we have specially invited senior officials from the public and the private sectors, as well as the Office for Personal Data Protection, Macao to attend this ceremony, hoping that their popularity will help promote this meaningful event and disseminate the message of protecting personal data privacy to different people.”

4.    The officiating guests of the inaugural ceremony were Mr. Stephen Lam, JP, Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs; Mr. Simon Peh, I.D.S.M., Director of Immigration; Mr. Shane Solomon, Chief Executive, Hospital Authority; Ms. Connie Lau, Chief Executive, The Consumer Council; Ms. Esther Lee, Senior Manager, Corporate Communications Department, Sony Corporation of Hong Kong Limited; and Ms. Chan Hoi Fan, Coordinator, Office for Personal Data Protection, Macao.

5.    On 26 August, the kick-off ceremony of “Personal Data Privacy Campaign for Estate Agency Trade” jointly organized by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (“PCPD”) and Estate Agents Authority will be held. A seminar on the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance will be held for estate agents immediately after the ceremony.

6.    Nowadays, data storage capacity of mobile phones increases rapidly. How to protect the personal data stored in mobile phones becomes an important issue. Moreover, several incidents of data leakage happened on the Internet were caused by file sharing software, such as Foxy. In view of the situation, the PCPD will organize a seminar for members of the Data Protection Officers’ Club on topics of “Security Measures of Mobile Phone” and “Security Analysis of the Foxy Peer-to-Peer File Sharing Tool”.

7.    On 28 August, the prize presentation ceremony for “Privacy is Your Business” International Video Competition will be held. The Competition is one of the major activities of the PAW 2008. Competition in Hong Kong and Macao, jointly organized by the PCPD, the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups, and the Office for Personal Data Protection, Macao, aims at encouraging students to respect and protect personal data privacy through the making of videos.

8.    On 29 August, Mr. Lee Lik Chee, a renowned film director and Mr. Tang Yu Hang, Deputy Editor-in-Chief, Sing Tao Magazine Group Limited are invited to deliver a talk on the use of computers to the young people. Mr. Lee will talk about privacy and creativity, while Mr. Tang will give tips on the safety use of computers. Moreover, a booklet “Protect your personal data while engaging in IT related activities” introducing computer security in simple ways will be distributed to the audience. Copies are also available for schools.

9.    For details of the PAW 2008, please visit the official website of the PAW 2008 (http://www.privacyawarenessweek.org) and the website of the
PCPD (http://www.pcpd.org.hk).

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