| This is the text of the Hong Kong Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, with hypertext (click and jump) links to all paragraph and section cross references, and to the definitions of all terms defined in the Ordinance. For information about the conventions adopted in setting this out, please refer to the separate page. |  |
 |
 |  this part |  | |
PART III
CODES OF PRACTICE
12. Approval of codes of practice by Commissioner
(1) Subject to subsections (8) and (9), for the purpose of
providing practical guidance in respect of any requirements under
this Ordinance imposed on data users, the Commissioner may—
(a) approve and issue such codes of practice (whether
prepared by him or not) as in his opinion are suitable
for that purpose; and
(b) approve such codes of practice issued or proposed to be
issued otherwise than by him as in his opinion are suitable
for that purpose.
(2) Where a code of practice is approved under subsection (1),
the Commissioner shall, by notice in the Gazette
(a) identify the code concerned and specify the date on which
its approval is to take effect; and
(b) specify for which of the requirements under this
Ordinance the code is so approved.
(3) The Commissioner may—
(a) from time to time revise the whole or any part of any
code of practice prepared by him under this section; and
(b) approve any revision or proposed revision of the whole or
any part of any code of practice for the time being
approved under this section,
and the provisions of subsection (2) shall, with the necessary
modifications, apply in relation to the approval of any revision
under this subsection as they apply in relation to the approval of a
code of practice under subsection (1).
(4) The Commissioner may at any time withdraw his approval from
any code of practice approved under this section.
(5) Where under subsection (4) the Commissioner withdraws his
approval from a code of practice approved under this section, he
shall, by notice in the Gazette, identify the code concerned and
specify the date on which his approval of it is to cease to have
effect.
(6) References in this Ordinance to an approved code of practice
are references to that code as it has effect for the time being by
virtue of any revision of the whole or any part of it approved under
this section.
(7) The power of the Commissioner under subsection (1)(b) to
approve a code of practice issued or proposed to be issued otherwise
than by him shall include power to approve a part of such a code and,
accordingly, in this Ordinance "code of practice" (°È¹ê¦u«h) may be
read as including a part of such a code.
(8) The Commissioner shall, not later than 6 months after the day
on which this section comes into operation (or within such further
period, not exceeding 6 months, as the Secretary for Home Affairs may
allow), approve a code of practice under subsection (1) in respect of
all or any requirements referred to in that subsection in so far as
such requirements relate to personal data which are personal
identifiers.
(9) The Commissioner shall, before approving a code of practice
under subsection (1) or any revision or proposed revision of the code
under subsection (3), consult with—
(a) such bodies representative of data users to which the
code or the code as so revised, as the case may be, will
apply (whether in whole or in part); and
(b) such other interested persons,
as he thinks fit.
(10) For the avoidance of doubt, it is hereby declared that
different codes of practice may be approved under subsection (1)
(including any code of practice referred to in subsection (8)) for
different classes of data users, and may be so approved for the same
or different requirements referred to in subsection (1).
13. Use of approved codes of practice in proceedings under this
Ordinance
(1) A failure on the part of any data user to observe any
provision of an approved code of practice shall not of itself render
the data user liable to any civil or criminal proceedings but where
in any proceedings under this Ordinance a data user is alleged to
have contravened a requirement under this Ordinance, being a
requirement for which there was an approved code of practice at the
time of the alleged contravention, subsection (2) shall have effect
with respect to such code in relation to those proceedings.
(2) Any provision of a code of practice which appears to a
specified body to be relevant to a requirement under this Ordinance
alleged to have been contravened shall be admissible in evidence in
the proceedings under this Ordinance concerned and if it is proved
that there was at any material time a failure to observe any
provision of the code which appears to that body to be relevant to
any matter which it is necessary to prove in order to establish a
contravention of such requirement, that matter shall be taken as
proved in the absence of evidence that such requirement was in
respect of that matter complied with otherwise than by way of
observance of that provision.
(3) In any proceedings under this Ordinance, a code of practice
which appears to a specified body to be the subject of a notice under
section 12 shall be taken to be the subject of such notice in the
absence of evidence to the contrary.
(4) In this section—
"proceedings under this Ordinance" includes
any criminal proceedings where a data user is alleged to have
committed an offence by reason of a contravention of a requirement
under this Ordinance;
"specified body" means—
(a) a magistrate;
(b) a court; or
(c) the Administrative Appeals Board.
|  this part | | |
Contents
[Prelim. & definitions]
[Admin.] [Codes of practice]
[Returns & register]
[Data access & correction]
[Matching & transfers]
[Complaints, etc.] [Exemptions]
[Offences] [Forms, fees, etc.]
[Sched 1: Data protection principles]
[Sched 2: Finances]
[Sched 3: Prescribed information]
[Sched 4: Other ordinances]
[Sched 5: Prescribed matters]
[Sched 6: Warrants]
|
For consulting on compliance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance or creative help with business planning, information technology, project management and the Internet please contact us. |