Surveys/ Study Reports

Survey Of Individuals

The Social Sciences Research Centre of the University of Hong Kong was commissioned by the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) in 1998 to conduct a follow-up opinion survey to the baseline survey it conducted for the PCPD in the previous year.

their sensitivity towards different types of personal data including the identity card;

attitudes towards privacy as a social policy issue and current practices of personal data being made available at public registers as well as the subsequent use of such data by other parties;

trust in organizations holding personal data;

awareness and experience of compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance ("the Ordinance").

The key findings are summarized as follows:

1. Disclosure of Identity Card (ID Card) Information

   There was little concern about showing ID cards to the police. The public was more concerned over providing ID card information to security guards and providing ID card copies to mobile phone companies (Fig. 1). Compared with the 1997 survey, there was a statistically significant increase in the proportion of respondents who minded their ID card details being recorded by security guards or police (Fig. 2).