Hong Kong Companies Registry seeks to clear air over controversial search procedure
Journalists, researchers and academics expressed concern over the move which they feared could prompt legal liabilities
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.
