【明報專訊】Octopus cards are almost a necessity in Hong Kong. However, the scandal of the sales of a million Octopus cardholders' personal data may erode confidence in Octopus Holdings.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (個人資料私隱專員公署) released its report on the scandal on October 18. The company was found to have contravened (違反) three data protection principles. It collected more data than it needed to verify its customers' identities and sold them for monetary gain. It was found that, in a period of eight years, it made HK$57.9 million by selling personal data to its business partners without data subjects' consent (同意).
Privacy Commissioner Allan Chiang Yam-wang (私隱專員蔣任宏) said Octopus Holdings deceived (欺騙) its members. The company escaped punishment. Nevertheless, it has pledged that it and Octopus Rewards, its subsidiary, will adopt all the recommendations the Privacy Commissioner has put forward in his report, and it will not seek a judicial review.
Several lawmakers, including Wong Yuk-man (黃毓民), are unhappy that government officials and senior MTR managers on the board of Octopus Holdings have not been held liable.
