Beyond privacy concerns and the danger of identity theft, parents risk creating a digital footprint that can disadvantage their children’s prospects in higher education and even careers.
Social media and online shopping platforms collect a significant amount of personal information and even share it with third parties. The growing risks of data leaks and fraud should force companies to offer better protection.
Time is needed to develop a shared safety protocol to manage the massive data used in AI training, often pulled from the internet and which may include user conversations.
In striking a reasonable balance between public health and personal privacy, we have to recognise that the right to privacy is by no means absolute. Even so, Hong Kong’s vaccine pass adopts privacy protection by design and has undergone security assessments and audits by independent third parties.
In making doxxing a crime and boosting the privacy commissioner’s enforcement powers, the new ordinance puts Hong Kong’s laws in step with those in Australia, New Zealand and Singapore.
While most social media platforms are free, users must recognise they are almost always giving up their personal data to use the service. In comparison, the government’s ‘Leave Home Safe’ app has fewer requirements and is safer for users’ data.
The wave of doxxing that has swelled in Hong Kong has tested the limits of law and morality and should be condemned. In a free, open society, while our own privacy is protected by law, we should also respect others’ privacy.