In an interview with the South China Morning Post, Hong Kong's first Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Stephen Lau Ka-men discusses the growth of privacy laws and awareness since he was in office from 1996 to 2001. Privacy "was a really new concept," he said. "The law was written in such a way to promote the awareness of personal data privacy." Bigger changes are recent. “It [was only] in the last few years that they amended the law and made the penalties harsher ... actually prosecuting individuals and organisations that have breached the law.” Lau added that the Hong Kongese government is "fair" and "they may use the data for other purposes [if] it has to do with an exemption like national security," he said. "Complaints to the privacy commissioner have been going up and up. This is not necessarily because we have more cases, but because people are more aware of their rights. As technology changes, there are more cases in which personal data might not be used properly." (Registration may be required to access this story.) 
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