‘No data risk’ with Hong Kong’s new smart ID card – and you can get into city four seconds faster

Deputy security minister dismisses worries about contactless technology leaving cards vulnerable to data theft

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Sonny Au said cardholders would only have to place the new card onto a reader instead of into a machine. Photo: David Wong

Published: 6:30pm, 5 Dec 2017Updated: 11:33pm, 5 Dec 2017

You will be able to get across the border four seconds faster and there will be no danger of personal information being stolen from the next generation of Hong Kong identity cards, it was revealed on Tuesday.

Discussing the matter before the Legislative Council’s security panel on Tuesday, deputy security minister Sonny Au Chi-kwong said cardholders would only have to place the new card onto a reader, instead of putting it into a machine as they do currently.

“That will be followed by fingerprint verification,” Au said. “The Immigration Department estimated the processing time could be down from 12 seconds to eight seconds.”

The new system uses built-in radio frequency identification (RFID) transmission technology to improve security and make the card quicker to read.

Legislators raised concerns that people could steal information from the new smart cards, by placing a card reader near the holder’s wallet. But Au said there were two different encrypted keys needed for the card to recognise an authorised reader and give up the data.

“Even though it is a wireless technology ... you must take out the card and put it on the authorised reader and pass through two different keys. So [the lawmakers] need not worry,” Au said.

He also dismissed criticism that the new card looks like a home return permit, the card which Hongkongers use to enter and exit the mainland.