Media Statements
Media Statement - PCPD Organised Proposal CompetitionEncouraging Secondary School Students to Beware ofPrivacy Protection When Applying Artificial Intelligence in Smart Living
Date:3 April 2020
PCPD Organised Proposal Competition
About 270 secondary school students from 36 schools participated in the “Artificial Intelligence and Privacy Protection” Proposal Competition (Competition) organised by the office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD). Winners were awarded prizes and certificates in recognition of their achievements in protecting privacy in the application of different types of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Competition was one of the tasks of the “Student Ambassador for Privacy Protection Programme - Partnering Schools Recognition Scheme” (SAP) organised by the PCPD. Participating teams were required to thoroughly evaluate the privacy impact of one type of AI and prepare a proposal to resolve the issues. The Champion, the First Runner-up, the Second Runner-up, the Third runner-up, and winners of the Most Creative Award and the Best School Partner Award were selected according to the contents of the proposals and the performance of the participating teams in presenting the proposals.
The Champion of the Competition goes to Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung Yau College with its proposal entitled “AI Vending Machine – Facial Recognition X Browsing Records”. With the development of the Smart City, application of facial recognition technology has become increasingly popular. With their insightful observations, participants drew inspiration from daily life, skilfully explored the application of AI with face recognition technology to vending machines and provided a comprehensive analysis of the privacy risks arising from applying facial recognition technology to vending machines, with reference to the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. For example, an AI vending machine may record users’ facial features, browsing and purchase histories without so informing the users, and promotes to the consumers products considered to be suitable for them. Participants questioned the objectivity and accuracy of the applications of AI technology. In addition, the freedom of choice of consumers may be restricted. In light of these privacy risks, participants have offered effective solutions to mitigate the risks at different levels, demonstrating their full understanding of the importance of balancing convenience and privacy protection. Moreover, the team explained the proposal in a clear and systematic manner during the presentation. The team well deserves the championship.
The First Runner-up goes to Shun Tak Fraternal Association Cheng Yu Tung Secondary School. The team, entitled “The Pitfalls of Big Data”, studied how search engines and social networking sites made use of AI to collect “big data”. Students of this team conducted a questionnaire survey on their campus to gauge their fellow students’ awareness of privacy risks brought about by "big data". It was found that up to 80% of the students were not familiar with "big data". Nearly 70% of them were uncertain whether their locations had been tracked by social networking sites or whether the information in their social media accounts were publicly available. In addition, more than 80% of the students did not read the Personal Information Collection Statement carefully when downloading mobile apps, and hence they provided more personal information than was necessary when registering the apps. This survey lively reflected some students’ inadequate knowledge of big data and ignorance of privacy risks. Relevant privacy solutions were then proposed, enriching the proposal with practicable content.
The Second Runner-up goes to CNEC Christian College. With the theme of “Application of AI to algorithms” on an online video channel, the team comprehensively analysed the privacy concerns raised by the collection of users’ digital footprints through AI by the website, and offered mitigation measures for website owners and internet users.
Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School received the Most Creative Award. This entry focused on the application of AI in daily life and analysed the use of AI in education, including some creative applications such as analysing students’ learning status during lessons by videotaping their behaviour (including raising hands, writing, standing up, lying on the table etc.) and expressions (including scare, happiness, disgust, surprise, anger). Related privacy risks were then highlighted and solutions were proposed.
Society of Boys’ Centres Hui Chung Sing Memorial School received the Best School Partner Award for having the highest number of participating students in the Competition.
Members of the judging panel of the Competition included Mr Tony Chik-ting LAM, Deputy Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data; Mr Francis Po-kiu FONG, member of PCPD’s Standing Committee on Technological Developments and Honorary President of Hong Kong Information Technology Federation; and Mr Alex LAU, veteran expert in information technology education. PCPD expressed gratitude to Mr. FONG and Mr. LAU for selecting the award-winning teams.
Impressed by the outstanding performance of the participants, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (Privacy Commissioner), Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG said, “We hope that in the course of their researches during the Competition, students can holistically understand the privacy issues in the application of AI technology, so that the seeds of the value of privacy protection can be sown in their mind for them to design or apply AI technology in the Smart City in the future.”
The SAP consisted of a “Partnering Schools Recognition Scheme”. Participating secondary schools were required to arrange students to participate in ten privacy protection tasks, including two special tasks which were the Competition and an online game aimed at preventing cyberbullying - “Awarding Likes to Good Digital Citizens”. The PCPD has also conducted an online seminar for the participating schools, and set up a teaching resource centre on the website, providing videos, leaflets/booklets, presentation materials and newspaper/publication columns on topics including the application of AI and its privacy impact, protection of personal data privacy, cyberbullying, etc.
The Privacy Commissioner said, “Last year, there was a significant increase of number of cases of doxxing and cyberbullying received and discovered by the PCPD. The Competition underlined the importance for the PCPD to promote the protection of personal data privacy to the public, especially to the young people. Since 2010, through the flagship promotion activity, the SAP, the PCPD has been putting across the message of protecting and respecting personal data privacy to over 200,000 secondary school students. The PCPD will continue to inculcate the youth with the value of privacy protection, in the hope of engendering the belief in protecting and respecting personal data privacy among the new generation.”
A record high number of 129 secondary schools with more than 60,000 participants participated in the SAP this year. The Partnering Schools Recognition Scheme offers diamond, gold, silver and bronze awards to commend and publicly recognise the achievements of secondary schools that demonstrate good practice in promoting personal data privacy protection on campuses. This year, the Diamond Awards were presented to six schools that won the Gold Award for the SAP for three consecutive years. The Diamond awardees are:
PCPD Organised Proposal Competition
Encouraging Secondary School Students to Beware of
Privacy Protection When Applying Artificial Intelligence in Smart Living
About 270 secondary school students from 36 schools participated in the “Artificial Intelligence and Privacy Protection” Proposal Competition (Competition) organised by the office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD). Winners were awarded prizes and certificates in recognition of their achievements in protecting privacy in the application of different types of Artificial Intelligence (AI).
The Competition was one of the tasks of the “Student Ambassador for Privacy Protection Programme - Partnering Schools Recognition Scheme” (SAP) organised by the PCPD. Participating teams were required to thoroughly evaluate the privacy impact of one type of AI and prepare a proposal to resolve the issues. The Champion, the First Runner-up, the Second Runner-up, the Third runner-up, and winners of the Most Creative Award and the Best School Partner Award were selected according to the contents of the proposals and the performance of the participating teams in presenting the proposals.
The Champion of the Competition goes to Shun Tak Fraternal Association Yung Yau College with its proposal entitled “AI Vending Machine – Facial Recognition X Browsing Records”. With the development of the Smart City, application of facial recognition technology has become increasingly popular. With their insightful observations, participants drew inspiration from daily life, skilfully explored the application of AI with face recognition technology to vending machines and provided a comprehensive analysis of the privacy risks arising from applying facial recognition technology to vending machines, with reference to the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance. For example, an AI vending machine may record users’ facial features, browsing and purchase histories without so informing the users, and promotes to the consumers products considered to be suitable for them. Participants questioned the objectivity and accuracy of the applications of AI technology. In addition, the freedom of choice of consumers may be restricted. In light of these privacy risks, participants have offered effective solutions to mitigate the risks at different levels, demonstrating their full understanding of the importance of balancing convenience and privacy protection. Moreover, the team explained the proposal in a clear and systematic manner during the presentation. The team well deserves the championship.
The First Runner-up goes to Shun Tak Fraternal Association Cheng Yu Tung Secondary School. The team, entitled “The Pitfalls of Big Data”, studied how search engines and social networking sites made use of AI to collect “big data”. Students of this team conducted a questionnaire survey on their campus to gauge their fellow students’ awareness of privacy risks brought about by "big data". It was found that up to 80% of the students were not familiar with "big data". Nearly 70% of them were uncertain whether their locations had been tracked by social networking sites or whether the information in their social media accounts were publicly available. In addition, more than 80% of the students did not read the Personal Information Collection Statement carefully when downloading mobile apps, and hence they provided more personal information than was necessary when registering the apps. This survey lively reflected some students’ inadequate knowledge of big data and ignorance of privacy risks. Relevant privacy solutions were then proposed, enriching the proposal with practicable content.
The Second Runner-up goes to CNEC Christian College. With the theme of “Application of AI to algorithms” on an online video channel, the team comprehensively analysed the privacy concerns raised by the collection of users’ digital footprints through AI by the website, and offered mitigation measures for website owners and internet users.
Yan Chai Hospital No.2 Secondary School received the Most Creative Award. This entry focused on the application of AI in daily life and analysed the use of AI in education, including some creative applications such as analysing students’ learning status during lessons by videotaping their behaviour (including raising hands, writing, standing up, lying on the table etc.) and expressions (including scare, happiness, disgust, surprise, anger). Related privacy risks were then highlighted and solutions were proposed.
Society of Boys’ Centres Hui Chung Sing Memorial School received the Best School Partner Award for having the highest number of participating students in the Competition.
Members of the judging panel of the Competition included Mr Tony Chik-ting LAM, Deputy Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data; Mr Francis Po-kiu FONG, member of PCPD’s Standing Committee on Technological Developments and Honorary President of Hong Kong Information Technology Federation; and Mr Alex LAU, veteran expert in information technology education. PCPD expressed gratitude to Mr. FONG and Mr. LAU for selecting the award-winning teams.
Impressed by the outstanding performance of the participants, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (Privacy Commissioner), Mr Stephen Kai-yi WONG said, “We hope that in the course of their researches during the Competition, students can holistically understand the privacy issues in the application of AI technology, so that the seeds of the value of privacy protection can be sown in their mind for them to design or apply AI technology in the Smart City in the future.”
The SAP consisted of a “Partnering Schools Recognition Scheme”. Participating secondary schools were required to arrange students to participate in ten privacy protection tasks, including two special tasks which were the Competition and an online game aimed at preventing cyberbullying - “Awarding Likes to Good Digital Citizens”. The PCPD has also conducted an online seminar for the participating schools, and set up a teaching resource centre on the website, providing videos, leaflets/booklets, presentation materials and newspaper/publication columns on topics including the application of AI and its privacy impact, protection of personal data privacy, cyberbullying, etc.
The Privacy Commissioner said, “Last year, there was a significant increase of number of cases of doxxing and cyberbullying received and discovered by the PCPD. The Competition underlined the importance for the PCPD to promote the protection of personal data privacy to the public, especially to the young people. Since 2010, through the flagship promotion activity, the SAP, the PCPD has been putting across the message of protecting and respecting personal data privacy to over 200,000 secondary school students. The PCPD will continue to inculcate the youth with the value of privacy protection, in the hope of engendering the belief in protecting and respecting personal data privacy among the new generation.”
A record high number of 129 secondary schools with more than 60,000 participants participated in the SAP this year. The Partnering Schools Recognition Scheme offers diamond, gold, silver and bronze awards to commend and publicly recognise the achievements of secondary schools that demonstrate good practice in promoting personal data privacy protection on campuses. This year, the Diamond Awards were presented to six schools that won the Gold Award for the SAP for three consecutive years. The Diamond awardees are:
- Ning Po No.2 College;
- Tung Wah Group of Hospitals Lo Kon Ting Memorial College;
- S.T.F.A. Cheng Yu Tung Secondary School;
- Po Leung Kuk Yao Ling Sun College;
- TWGHS Sun Hoi Directors’ College; and
-
Lai King Catholic Secondary School.
Online game --- “Awarding Likes to Good Digital Citizens”
-End-