Greetings, fellow privacy professionals.

It has been a very eventful May so far, as we just finished our Privacy Awareness Week in Hong Kong, headlined by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong office hosting one of their own events on “Data Ethics in Action.” Commissioner Wong and industry leaders from HSBC, Octopus, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, and others discussed data ethics and the impact this has on the growth of digital transformation and the use of big data. It was good to see more than 100 participants, which shows the growing interest in privacy in the region.

The IAPP also had a great turnout at our own Data Ethics KnowledgeNet Meeting and Privacy After Hours, which focused on ethical accountability, and also on ethics and artificial intelligence. We had a lively panel discussing this topic from various points of view, and it was one of the largest turnouts for our local HK KnowledgeNet to date.

We hope to continue this trend and are expecting an even bigger turnout for our co-organized event in June. If you are in Hong Kong, please click here to join our industry event titled, “Is GDPR a Threat To Blockchain Innovation?” The IAPP, along with several other co-organizers, is putting together a thought leadership evening when Commissioner Wong will kick off the event with an opening keynote, “GDPR and Blockchain: Are they compatible?” then “Key privacy concerns for Blockchain projects,” followed by a panel discussion on these hot topics. Due to the nature of the event and the excitement around blockchain and privacy, we only have limited seats available so please sign up soon!

In other news, I am pleased to announce that I will be an adjunct professor and on the Advisory Board for Hong Kong Baptist University, School of Business for its upcoming Master of Science in Finance (fintech and financial analytics) program. This is a program designed by Professor Aris Stouraitis, and I have had the honor of helping to line up the IAPP’s involvement so the program will have official privacy content from the IAPP. This is a first of its kind in Asia and a step forward toward integrating industry ready privacy content into university programs. As you can see from a statement by the Australian Information Privacy Commissioner, there were almost 1,000 data breaches reported to the federal regulator in the first year of mandatory reporting rules, and citizens don’t know who to trust with privacy. In order to build trust, we must first work to help address the global shortage of industry ready cybersecurity and privacy experts. Thus, the vision is that university programs will be a start in helping to make sure that students of all backgrounds gain fundamental knowledge in key areas of cybersecurity and privacy. To learn more about the program, click here.

Finally, big news in Singapore, where it was just announced that there are plans to update guidelines on breach notification and accountability. “Expected to be included as part of the upcoming amendment to the country's data protection law, the new guidelines state businesses take no more than 30 days to investigate a suspected breach and notify the authorities 72 hours after completing their assessment of the breach.” Read more here.

I am sure the above will be discussed at the upcoming IAPP Asia Pacific Forum in Singapore in July, and tickets are selling fast. Looks like there will be some really great sessions and speakers from all over the globe, and I look forward to seeing you there. I will be moderating a panel called “GDPR (1 Year Later): Lessons From Data Breach Victims and Security Professionals),” so please come by!

Keep safe, keep secure.

Jason Lau
IAPP HK Regional Leader
Fellow of Information Privacy 
CIPP/E, CIPM