Finance Committee deliberates 1.2 billion electronic archive storage system Democrats questioned the impact of national security laws on archive deletion

Political situation

Written by: Zhou Lixi

2020-07-06 12:51

The Finance Committee of the Legislative Council today (6th) considered the opening of a new commitment of 1.2 billion yuan in the capital reserve fund, and developed a new electronic file storage system, which will be fully implemented within the government. The system will be developed within the government’s private cloud platform to develop a central electronic file storage system to support the full implementation of the electronic file storage system by the end of 2025.

Some democratic lawmakers questioned whether the relevant departments of the National Security Agency such as the National Security Agency stationed in Hong Kong would be able to influence the preservation of archives and even modify the power of other departments’ archives. Government Information Technology Director Lin Weiqiao emphasized that the system has a record of all deleted data, and the new system has no impact on the principles of file management.

Zhu Kaidi criticized that the electronic file system should have improved the transparency of information. He emphasized that the file system of a civilized country would not allow the content of files to be modified. He asked the government to submit to the Legislative Council the criteria for file modification. (Profile picture / Photo by Zhang Haowei)

The Finance Committee continued to rush to open a meeting to review funding before the end of the current session of the Legislative Council. People's Power Chen Zhiquan asked whether future documents related to national security laws will be added to this electronic filing system. Lin Weiqiao responded that files classified as classified or below will be added to the system.

Zhu Kaidi criticized that the electronic file system should have improved the transparency of information, emphasizing that the file system of a civilized country would not allow the file content to be modified. He asked the government to hand over the criteria for file modification to the Legislative Council, and asked No power to delete files. Lin Weiqiao responded that it is an international practice for an authorized person to delete files in the electronic file system, and the system will have relevant records for deletion.

Zheng Songtai, a passionate citizen, asked if Lin Weiqiao had read the regulations of the National Security Law. He pointed out that the National Security Office and the National Security Council, outside the current government structure, questioned why Lin Weiqiao could not respond to Zhu Kaidi’s question, and questioned why the system should be established because it cannot make information transparent. Lin Weiqiao pointed out that the system helps to improve the efficiency of the file, and that its department is only a technical department, which is no different from the file management system itself.

The DAB Ge Gefan pointed out that electronicization helps paperless files and asked about the security of deleted files and systems. Lin Weiqiao said that the files cannot be modified casually, there is an audit trail for deleting the files, and the system security will be ensured by independent third parties to be safe and reliable.

Ge Jufan pointed out that electronicization helps paperless files. (Profile picture)

Jiang Liyun demanded no rejection by foreign government

The DAB Jiang Liyun asked that many foreign countries have opposed the Hong Kong version of the National Security Law and asked whether the government's future electronic file storage system will come from foreign countries. Lin Weiqiao responded that the pilot program of the authorities used different foreign software, as long as the relevant software can meet the government's requirements for the integrity of archives, it will be used. Jiang Liyun then asked the government to respond, whether it would only use locally developed system software. Lin Weiqiao replied that the government would ensure the encryption and security of the system according to the existing procurement requirements. Chen Zhenying, the vice chairman of the Finance Committee who is presiding over the meeting, added, "That's not the case."

Mo Naiguang, a member of the information technology industry, asked whether the central e-mail system is in line with the new electronic file storage system. Lin Weiqiao said that different departments have different e-mail processing methods. For example, e-mails that are deemed unnecessary to be archived will be deleted, not All emails will be archived.

Hong Kong version of the National Security Law Legislative Council Finance Committee