­­­Greetings, fellow privacy professionals.

There is a lot happening on the privacy front in China right now. The draft law on personal information protection was returned to the Standing Committee of the National People's Congress for a second reading Monday. Part of this update will include how Big Tech will need to comply with data privacy regulations. The National Information Security Standardization Technical Committee of China released two draft cybersecurity standards for public comment 19 April. These are steps in the right direction, as large organizations need to ensure they put in place proper security and privacy oversight, control and governance to operate in today’s digital economy — and do so in an ethical way. For sure, there will be more updates in the coming weeks, and I look forward to sharing more on this front.

The long-awaited iOS 14.5 update is finally here with many new privacy features, namely Apple’s App Tracking Transparency feature, which gives users more insight into what data is being collected and shared with third parties, such as advertisers. I have been following this very closely for the last few months from a development and implementation perspective. I can assure you that many companies with apps will be caught off guard and scrambling to comply with everything from the new privacy nutrition labels through to the ATT.

For those of you who are new to this development, this video from Apple has a good summary of the details. The update may have a serious impact on marketing and social media companies on how they track users. These are steps in the right direction, and Big Tech plays a major role in helping drive better privacy through the use of technology. It’s good to see more initiatives like this, as well as Apple’s recent release of AirTag’s allowing for easier device tracking without having to compromise privacy.

I had the honor of being the Conference Chairperson of Hong Kong's inaugural Data Privacy Forum last week, with more than 400 attendees. I would like to offer a special thanks to Privacy Commissioner Ada Chung and the office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data for their support and being the guest of honor. Chung provided the opening keynote remarks, which set the tone for the forum and offered insight into current developments from the PCPD. One of the key topics was the privacy awareness message to the public about the use of free social media applications and the best practices people should follow.

In addition to being the conference chairperson, I was part of a panel that discussed the need for greater corporate appreciation and individual awareness of data privacy. As part of the IAPP’s continued commitment to expanding in Hong Kong, two IAPP certifications have been granted into the Reindustrialisation and Technology Training Programme. The program allows companies in Hong Kong to seek funding schemes under the Innovation and Technology Fund that subsidizes local companies on a two-to-one matching basis to train their staff. 

Keep safe; keep secure.