This Monday (October 25), the Land Registry announced that new arrangements will be implemented for land records, mentioning that from next month, searchers must "provide identification information" and "confirm that they have no intention and will not violate the "Personal In the case of the Data (Privacy) Ordinance, personal data in land records obtained through search is used".
The Companies Registry also stated that it will adjust the arrangements for the public registers it maintains, requiring users to "provide personal information, including their name and identification information, before the search, and continue to make their search purposes in accordance with the current arrangements." And confirm that the information obtained from the search can only be used for the stated purpose".
Article 21 of the "Land Registration Regulations" stipulates that the Land Registrar shall "as soon as practicable after receiving a request from any person and the payment of the fees prescribed by the Land Registration Fees Regulations" And within the time specified by the Registrar for this purpose, to provide the person with the records of the Land Registry", section 45 of the Companies Ordinance requires the Registrar of Companies "to provide the company register for public inspection at all reasonable times So that any member of the public can...ascertain the details of the company, its directors or other senior officers, or its former directors.”
The online search center system of the Companies Registry.
As early as July 2015, the then Personal Data Privacy Commissioner Jiang Renhong urged the government to strengthen the monitoring of the public register. The report pointed out that "If you unrestricted access to information from the company, land and vehicle registers... such information When used by malicious persons, data subjects may suffer economic loss, identity theft and personal safety risks.” It is also recommended to legislate to regulate abuses and remind visitors to comply with the register. The former has been passed at the end of last month. The "Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance" (hereinafter referred to as the "Privacy Ordinance") was amended, and the changes to the land and company search arrangements are undoubtedly the latter.
Privacy Ordinance exempts news activities
As for journalistic activities, the Privacy Ordinance actually exempted them early in the morning.
In accordance with the provisions of Article 36, Article 38 and Article 61 of the Ordinance, the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data does not have the right to actively inspect or investigate the information held by news activities, and will not be affected by the information before the relevant information is published or broadcast. The complaint is investigated by the Commissioner for violating the provisions of the Ordinance; in addition, if the journalist has reasonable grounds to believe that the disclosure of information is in the public interest, then his activities are not subject to the third data protection principle, that is, there is no need to obtain the data subject’s instructions in advance You can publish or broadcast if you agree.
Now that the new arrangements of the Land Registry reiterate that the information obtained in the land search should comply with the Privacy Ordinance, and the current privacy statement of the Companies Registry search also mentions that "the provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance" apply to How to use the personal data obtained from the public register of the Companies Registry", so the data obtained through the two search methods should still be used to collect news, compile reports, or analyze current affairs in the future. It may not be as intended to prevent it as some opinions and concerns in the public are concerned. The reporter obtains and uses relevant information.
Arrangements should not create criminal traps
On the other hand, a reporter was previously ruled by the court to make false statements in the process of applying for a certificate of vehicle registration details. In the case, the defendant violated Article 111 of the Permits, certificates, certificates or other documents...knowingly making false statements on essential items is a crime."
The relevant application form of the Transport Department has listed warnings as of June 2003 at the latest to remind users that filling in false information will violate the above-mentioned laws, and after October 2019, the option of reporting other non-traffic and transportation purposes has been deleted.
On April 22, the "search case" was sentenced, and the Hong Kong and Taiwan director Cai Yuling was convicted of two crimes of "knowingly making false statements on essential items" and was fined a total of 6,000 yuan.
Cai left the court in response, saying that the sentence was uncomfortable, and he did not agree with him. He firmly believed that "the search is not guilty, and the freedom of the press is not guilty."
(Photo by Lu Yiming)
The current land search does not require users to declare what purpose the information obtained is used, but the new arrangement will require users to confirm that they have no intention and will not use the information for purposes unrelated to the purpose of keeping and making land records available for public inspection. The purpose is to "facilitate property transactions" and to find out "who is the registered owner of the property concerned and whether the property has a registered property".
As for the company search after 2016, it is required to submit a statement about the purpose of the search. However, the listing options are the same as the Transport Department's form, which does not allow columns for other purposes such as news reporting.
Although the relevant legal provisions for land and company searches do not include special charges of false statements like license plate searches, Article 36 of the Criminal Offences Ordinance still stipulates that knowingly and deliberately, without taking an oath, it is valid for the time being The statutory law authorizes or requires him to make, endorse, or certify a “statement or document that “makes a statement that is false in material terms” is a crime.
In the future, the authorities must clarify whether the two search processes constitute any legal risks including the crime. In particular, the application form must clearly warn of the consequences of violations and provide options that meet the protection scope of the Privacy Ordinance, so as to avoid creating problems for users Crime trap.
The criminalization of the “base” has a reasonable definition, and there is room for amendments to the rules. Listening to the opinions of the industry will help the “base” amendments to tighten the company search and carefully measure the impact
