When everybody in Hong Kong and the region are making concerted efforts to tackle the highly dangerous new coronavirus, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (Privacy Commissioner), Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG, notes that frontline medical personnel at different ranks, who have been working round the clock selflessly in these critical times, are being doxxed. The personal data of their family members are also unlawfully disclosed, resulting in unwarranted pressure and fear, faced by the medical professionals and the medical institutions or authorities concerned, particularly where they have little to do with political demands.
The Privacy Commissioner emphasises that doxxing activities of this kind are not only criminal offences under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, but also against public interest and contrary to corporate responsibility. They are definitely illegal and entirely not accepted by the community in Hong Kong. The Privacy Commissioner urges the doxxers to stop these illegal and irresponsible activities immediately, and the operators of the online social platforms to remove the postings without delay, so that frontline medical personnel at all ranks can continue to serve the people of Hong Kong without distraction and fear. The office the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data has already written to the overseas data protection authority whose jurisdiction covers the offending platform, for collaborative efforts to combat doxxing activities and to bring the doxxers to justice.