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Response to Media Enquiry or Report

Response to Media Enquiry or Report

Date: 8 November 2019

Response to media enquiry on Doxxing case involving police officers

Thank you very much for your email enquiry. Please find below relevant figures and latest information on doxxing cases:
 
Overall Situation
  • The office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) received the first doxxing and cyberbullying case on 14 June. As at noon 8 November 2019, the PCPD received and discovered 4,122 related cases, in which 3,790 cases were complaints and discovered by the PCPD, while 332 cases were enquiries. Totally 16 online social platforms and discussion forums, and 2,433 web links were involved.
     
  • The victims of doxxing are from all sorts of backgrounds and all walks of life. Of those 3,790 complaints and cases discovered in our patrol, 34% were related to police officers and their families, 66% were related to other people, such government officials, legislators, children, students, teachers, protestors, etc.
     
  • Police officers and their families are the single largest sector of people falling victim to doxxing, not forgetting the possibility that some police officers have not come forward to the PCPD yet. 
     
PCPD’s Follow-up Actions

  • As at noon 8 November, the PCPD has written to the related 14 platforms 113 times to urge them to remove a total of 2,017 web links and to post warnings that netizens who engage in doxxing and cyberbullying may commit a serious offence under section 64 of PDPO, of which 1,629 web links (representing about 81%) have already been removed.
     
  • After the PCPD's repeated interventions, a chat group / channel of an instant messaging platform with the most active doxxing acts has been suspended since 7 November.  Of the 1,396 web links we urged that platform to remove, 1,102 (79%) have now been removed.    
     
  • For those links that have not been removed, the PCPD would continue to urge the related platforms to remove them and would continue to monitor the platforms.
     
  • The PCPD has also urged all the platforms concerned to provide registration information or IP addresses of the netizens who uploaded the relevant doxxing posts. We have also drawn the platform operators’ attention to an interlocutory injunction, which prohibits any member of the public from revealing personal data of police officers and their family members without their consent if such act is intended or likely to intimidate, molest, harass, threaten or pester them.  The relevant platform operators are warned that neglect to obey the terms of the injunction may amount to contempt of court. 
     
  • If those platforms still do not provide information to the PCPD, the PCPD will consider further actions (including summons) in an attempt to get from the platforms registration information or IP addresses of the netizens who uploaded the doxxing posts, to facilitate the PCPD’s investigation.
     
  • As the doxxing cases involved unlawful purposes of bullying, incitement and intimidation, and consent of the persons concerned was not obtained, it is certainly unfair and illegal, and has caused psychological harm to the data subjects. Hence, if, after preliminary investigation, the PCPD considers that persons engaging in such acts may have contravened section 64 of PDPO, the PCPD would refer the cases to the Police for criminal investigation.
     
  • As at noon 8 November, the PCPD has referred 1,298 cases of this nature to the Police for criminal investigation and for consideration for prosecution.
     
  • The consequences of contravention of section 64 of PDPO are serious. The maximum penalty is a fine of HK$1,000,000 and an imprisonment for 5 years.