24 April 2023: The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong (PCPD) and the Office for Personal Data Protection, Macao (GPDP) held a meeting in Macao today (24 April) to strengthen their ties and discuss areas of closer cooperation in the protection of personal data. Senior officers of both offices also attended the meeting.

The offices held discussion on various data protection issues including the enforcement work conducted by the two offices, cross-border transfers of personal data and stronger collaboration in the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (Greater Bay Area).

Hong Kong’s Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (Privacy Commissioner), Ms Ada CHUNG Lai-ling, said, “The PCPD is grateful for the hospitality of the GPDP. The two data protection authorities have been implementing the requirements of their respective data protection laws and striving to enforce the laws to better protect the personal data privacy of citizens. Hong Kong and Macao, being Special Administrative Regions (SARs) of the country are uniquely positioned in the Greater Bay Area. With the promulgation of the Outline Development Plan for the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, the PCPD would foster its collaboration with the GPDP to contribute to the development of the Greater Bay Area.”

Head of the Macao GPDP, Mr Ken YEUNG, said, “The GPDP welcomes the visit of the Privacy Commissioner and her delegation for exchanging views and experiences. Both Hong Kong and Macao have very mature personal data protection regimes and the two offices have long supported, collaborated and cooperated with each other. With the country’s gradual strengthening of the legislation on personal data protection, the two data protection authorities will further foster their existing cooperation under the “One Country, Two Systems” regime, and make greater contribution to the country and the two SARs’ work on personal data protection, as well as the high-quality development of the society.”

The Privacy Commissioner also visited the Public Security Police Force of Macao in the morning. In the afternoon, the Privacy Commissioner visited the Polícia Judiciária and its Cybersecurity Incident Alert and Response Centre to learn more about their cybersecurity and criminal investigation work in relation to personal data protection. The Privacy Commissioner also exchanged views with the GPDP on how the anti-doxxing regime was implemented in Hong Kong since the enactment of the Personal Data (Privacy) Amendment Ordinance 2021.