Journalists, researchers and academics expressed concern over the move which they feared could prompt legal liabilities
DANNY.MOK@SCMP.COM
UPDATED : Tuesday, 03 May, 2016, 10:50pm
Journalists Association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan is unhappy about the new arrangement. Photo: Dickson Lee
The Companies Registry tried on Tuesday to clear the air over a new and controversial arrangement for users of its online register.
The new arrangement in force since Sunday requires users to choose at least one out of nine listed purposes for their searches.
Six are about whether the searcher has any dealings with a company or its directors. Others include ascertaining the particulars of a company, its directors or former directors.
The user can check one or more of the purposes and also has to affirm that “the personal data obtained from the search should only be used for the stated purposes”.
No one can use the register without a declared reason.
The new arrangement, which the registry said was introduced to prevent the abuse of personal particulars in the wake of a privacy commission report last year, drew strong reaction from journalists, researchers and academics.
Reporters said none of the listed options fitted reporting purposes. They were also worried that arbitrary selection might bring legal liabilities.
Their doubts remained even though Privacy Commissioner Stephen Wong Kai-yi said on Monday that there was no need for journalists to be overly worried.
The registry said on Tuesday that one of the options, the seventh, could cover the collection of information for the purpose of news reporting activities. This option did not require a searcher to have any dealing with the relevant company or person, it said.
Hong Kong Journalists Association chairwoman Sham Yee-lan said the group was studying the response of the registry with the help of a lawyer.
Before the registry issued its response, the group wrote to the registrar, Ada Chung Lai-ling, urging her to cancel the new arrangement because it would make the public and journalists worried that they would be exposed to legal risks and might therefore avoid using the register
The association also said company directors already enjoyed significant protection under existing laws.
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-crime/article/1940994/hong-kong-companies-registry-seeks-clear-air-over
