Media Statements

East Meets West – Privacy Commissioner promotes
Hong Kong as the host of the 2017 International Privacy Conference

(20 October 2016)   The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (“Privacy Commissioner”), Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG, today gave a presentation about Hong Kong at the 38^th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners in Marrakech, Morocco as a preview of the 39^th Conference to be held in Hong Kong on 25 to 29 September, 2017.
 
The presentation, attended by over 800 participants from around the world, started with a video highlighting the attributes of Hong Kong as the Asian’s world city.  The Privacy Commissioner went on to elaborate on various factors upon which Hong Kong was accorded with top world rankings including the freest and the most competitive economy.
 
“Being one of the special administrative regions of the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong benefits greatly from the staunch support and relentless implementation of the ‘One Country, Two Systems’ principle, whereby the protection of human rights including privacy right and free flow of information and data, are guaranteed constitutionally.  As one of the emerging data driven economies and most popular data centres in Asia, Hong Kong is well placed to host the annual conference whereby data protection authorities and related enterprises around the world would put their heads together and exchange views on issues concerning data and privacy right,” Mr Wong said.
 
The Conference has been the premium global forum for 110 data protection authorities and representatives of the data related trade and industries in the world, attracting around 800 participants each year for over three decades.  It has not been held in Asia since 1999.
 
The Privacy Commissioner was also invited as a speaker of the session themed “Digital Education” at today’s Conference in Marrakech.  Showcasing the successful examples of Digital Education in Hong Kong, the Privacy Commissioner introduced the online platforms and multimedia tools and forms, including popular social platforms, of digital education on data protection in Hong Kong by taking the audience through the office website online.

Mr Wong said, “Whilst we will continue to ensure fair enforcement of the law, it is no less important to promote the understanding of the substance of privacy right and the related law.  The goal of our digital education is to nurture ‘protect, respect personal data’ culture among organisations and the members of the public, in particular the SMEs, children and the elderly, as collection, use and transfer of data have become part of everybody’s life nowadays.”

During his stay in Marrakech, the Privacy Commissioner also took the opportunity to meet other representatives of the data protection authorities around the world and the conference participants, to exchange views on global privacy protection outlook and matters of mutual concern. Mr Wong also joined the panel discussions on “International Cooperation on Enforcement” and “Risk Assessment and Transparency in Enabling Organisational Accountability in the Digital Economy”.
 
More information about the 38^th ICDPPC can be found at:
www.privacyconference2016.org/
 
Stay tune to the update of the 39^th ICDPPC in Hong Kong at:
www.privacyconference2017.org/
 

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