Personal Information Collection Statement and Privacy Policy Statement of the Consumer Council
The Consumer Council (the “Council”) respects personal data privacy and is committed to complying with the data protection principles and the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap 486) (“PDPO”). In doing so, we strive to ensure compliance by our staff with strict standards of security and confidentiality.
In performing our statutory functions under the Consumer Council Ordinance (Cap 216), we may collect and hold personal data relating to you. The Council has created this statement in order to demonstrate our commitment to protecting your privacy. The Council is not responsible for the privacy policies and practices of other linked sites or third parties.
The Council does not seek to collect or process personal data of minors. If you are under the age of 18, please consult your parent or guardian to ensure that you understand the content of this statement before providing any personal data to the Council.
Information Collection and Use
The Council may collect personal information relating to you when you make enquiries or complaints, submit applications to the Council or the Consumer Legal Action Fund administered by it as the trustee, subscribe to our services or publications, attend or participate in our events, engagements or surveys (whether online or offline) or communicate with us. If the necessary personal data is not provided, we may be unable to process your enquiries, complaints, applications, subscriptions or to provide or continue to provide services to you.
We may use your personal data for any of the following purposes from time to time:
The Council may collect your personal data directly from you or indirectly from third parties. In so doing, we shall collect data which is adequate but not excessive in relation to the purpose(s) for which such data is collected and by lawful and fair means. When we collect personal data from you as a data subject, we will also provide you with a Personal Information Collection Statement (“PICS”) on or before such collection in an appropriate format and manner (e.g. in paper form or on the web page that collects the personal data, in a notice posted up at the reception area of the Council and the Consumer Advice Centres for reference, or orally if such collection takes place on a call or in a meeting with you). The kind of personal data collected from you, the purposes for which your personal data are collected and the classes of persons to whom your personal data may be transferred are set out in the relevant PICS.
Kinds of Personal Data Held
The Council holds four broad categories of records which contain personal data:
Main Purposes of Use of Personal Data
Personal data contained in these records are kept for the following main purposes:
Use of Cookies on our Website
When you visit the Council’s website, we record your visit only as a “hit” and do not collect any personally identifiable information from you. We use such information for statistical purposes such as number of visitors and circumstances of general usage, and for purposes of maintaining and improving our website. Certain information would be collected through the use of “cookies” stored in the web browser of your computer, phone, tablet or device. A cookie is a small piece of text sent to your browser by a website you visit. The information usually includes an anonymous unique identifier to identify an individual device. It records your preferences which enables the Council to understand which webpages are more popular so as to enhance the experience of our online users. Cookies collect non-personally identifiable and statistical information. Such information does not include personal data such as name, address, telephone and email address. The collected information will only be used for analysing your preferences in relation to the services and content provided by the Council’s website and will not be transferred to a third party. We will not use cookies to collect your personal data.
Most browsers are initially set up to accept cookies. You can disable the cookies on your web browser but if you disable cookies, you may not be able to use some of the main features on the Council’s website such as selecting the preferred language, logging in and out of the subscription account and subscribing to the CHOICE magazine or articles and saving the search history of the website.
Retention
The Council maintains and implements retention policies of records containing personal data to ensure that personal data is not kept longer than is necessary for the fulfilment of the purpose(s) for which the data is or is to be used. Different retention periods apply to the various kinds of personal data collected and held by the Council in accordance with policies in internal operational manuals and procedures.
Use of Personal Data for Promotion
We will only send you online or offline direct marketing communications with your consent, including but not limited to promotional messages relating to our CHOICE magazine or the Council’s newsletters.
If you would like to opt out of receiving any such communications, please email your request to unsubscribe_enews@consumer.org.hk. If such communication is sent to you electronically, you can also click the “Cancel Registration” link on the electronic communication to notify the Council to stop sending you these messages.
Data Security and Disclosure
The Council takes appropriate steps to protect the personal data we hold against loss, unauthorized access, use, modification or disclosure.
We keep all personal data confidential but may, depending on the purposes for which such personal data is collected, disclose or transfer the personal data to the following categories of persons or any one of them (whether within or outside Hong Kong) for one or more of such purposes, or with your consent:
Access and Correction of Personal Data
In general, an individual has the right to request access to and correction of his/her personal data held by us in accordance with the provisions of the PDPO. Any such requests should be made in writing by completing the specified Data Access Request Form (OPS003) prescribed under the PDPO and sending it to the Compliance and Administration Officer, Consumer Council, 22nd Floor, K. Wah Centre, 191 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong.
Please note that when handling a data access or correction request, we will check the identity of the requestor to ensure that s/he is the person legally entitled to make the data access or correction request. We have the right to charge a fee for the processing of any data access request.
You may also raise any inquiry concerning this Privacy Policy Statement in writing with the Compliance and Administration Officer, Consumer Council, 22nd Floor., K. Wah Centre, 191 Java Road, North Point, Hong Kong.
This Statement is published in English and Chinese. In the event of discrepancy or conflict between the English and the Chinese versions, the English version shall prevail.
Updated on 3 March 2022