Hong Kong’s New Privacy Commissioner Has Enforcement Background

Hong Kong recently appointed a new privacy commissioner, Stephen Wong, for a term of five years. Mr. Wong succeeded Allan Chiang, who completed his five-year term on August 3, 2015. Prior to joining the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Mr. Wong was a barrister and the secretary to the Law Reform Commission of Hong Kong. Prior to that, Mr. Wong was a legal counsel/prosecutor in the Department of Justice for more than 20 years, assuming various posts including senior crown counsel for general prosecutions & appeals, assistant director of public prosecutions, and deputy solicitor general.

Tip: With Mr. Wong taking over the Hong Kong privacy office, organizations doing business in Hong Kong are reminded to review their data privacy policies and practice for compliance with the data privacy laws in Hong Kong. In light of Mr. Wong’s background, we believe the new privacy commissioner will continue to adopt a tough stance in privacy enforcement actions in Hong Kong.