Equinix provides businesses in Hong Kong and mainland China a strategic digital infrastructure foothold in a top Asian business hub with its dual domain advantage: access to Hong Kong’s unique audience as well as mainland China’s bustling market. For global companies expanding into Asia or Asian companies expanding globally, Equinix data centers in Hong Kong serve as high-performance infrastructure foundations that support digital strategy initiatives.
Modernisation of data protection laws in Hong Kong has been proposed; until this happens, companies should remain cognisant of how the PDPO interprets key privacy concepts – most notably personal data – compared with similar definitions found elsewhere such as GDPR in Europe.
However, this definition remains subject to stringent controls. Under the PDPO, personal data must only be collected legally and directly related to the function or activity of its user. Furthermore, processing personal data shouldn’t lead to unjustifiable adverse consequences on an individual.
Data users must implement contractual or other safeguards with any data processors they engage, to protect personal data against unauthorized access, processing, erasure, loss or use. This requirement extends even when processing occurs in or from Hong Kong.
Additionally, the PDPO stipulates that an individual’s name and HKID number cannot be displayed publicly or made readily accessible unless for the fulfillment of an expressly-stated purpose notified to them. Furthermore, sharing an individual’s personal data for direct marketing without their explicit consent is unlawful.