Notes from the IAPP Asia Managing Director, 15 September 2017

Big news stories this past week have centered on data losses, with the massive loss at Equifax being front and center. It affected not only people in the United States but also Canada and the U.K. I guess with all our data, it becomes a matter of not if, but when, it is breached. I was personally impacted by a data loss by insurer AXA in Singapore last week. Email addresses, mobile numbers and dates of birth were compromised for 5,400 customers. Since the mobile number is used for one-time password verification to access one’s account, AXA issued a scary warning to affected customers to beware of phishing attempts. Cold comfort.

There’s an interesting article in today’s digest about the cultural differences between East and West in the collection and retention of data. In Asia, frontline employees will often copy personal identification documents, either in response to “company policy” or as a self-preservation mechanism to prove they have actually sighted the identification document. Last week, I spoke about data protection at a conference of event organizers and hoteliers (a kind of conference of conferences) in Shanghai. To some, the fact that they are handling vast amounts of protected personal data was a revelation. To illustrate the point, I told them I was minded to ask every hotel I had stayed at in the last five years whether they were still holding a copy of my passport. I think that gave them food for thought.

Kowloon East is an area of Hong Kong that is seldom in the news but, this week, a story appeared about CCTV cameras being trialed there to catch parking violators who were causing congestion. Privacy Commissioner Stephen Wong will need to be satisfied that such a move is necessary before cameras can be installed. Interestingly, I also learned that there is an Energizing Kowloon East Office under the Development Bureau. Bear with me here, because Kowloon East will be the star of the show in less than two weeks for the 39th International Conference of Data Protection and Privacy Commissioners, happening 25 through 29 Sept. The conference is being held in Asia for the first time in 18 years, so there is much excitement. While two of the days are closed events for the DPAs, there are two days of open events, and the IAPP is organizing a number of side events. Registration is required for all events.

It gives me great pleasure to meet so many of you as I travel around the region and to know that a few of you even read my weekly notes. I will be in Hong Kong for ICDPPC, and the IAPP will be hosting a side event, lunch and booth at the event, so if you are attending, please stop by and say “hello”! I am sure the Energizing Kowloon East Office will be delighted to see so many visitors and will ensure there is no traffic congestion during the week!