The Asian Internet Coalition group which includes Google and Facebook sent a letter to Hong Kong’s privacy commissioner for personal data expressing concerns about the new privacy laws proposed by the region.
The letter was first published by the Wall Street Journal on Monday.
Privacy laws: Google, Facebook concerned about employees in Hong Kong
According to The Verge, once in effect, the amendments would require immediate compliance with any government takedown requests. The group also said that the wording in the text of the bill was ambiguous and has raised concerns that tech employees could be prosecuted as individuals if they do not comply.
An infringement of the privacy laws could result in a one-year jail term and a maximum fine of one million Hong Kong dollars (almost R2 million) for offenders who disclose personal data without consent – with the intention of intimidating, harassing, or causing psychological harm to someone and his or her family members, the Aljazeera reported.
“Introducing severe sanctions and especially personal liability in relation to assessing requests for taking down content has the consequence of encouraging online platforms to conduct little to no review of requests and over-block content,” the letter said.
“The only way to avoid these sanctions for technology companies would be to refrain from investing and offering their services in Hong Kong,” the Asia Internet Coalition threatened.
However, Carrie Lam, the chief executive of Hong Kong, brushed off the warning by the major tech companies, saying that the amendments would only target illegal “doxxing” – which is defined as sharing of people’s private information for malicious intent.
Anti-government protests in Hong Kong
All of this quandary comes after anti-government protests that happened in 2019, where private and personal information of police officers was published online, exposing their families to harm.
During that protest, some of the officers’ home addresses and children’s schools were also exposed.
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