Hong Kong’s legal framework, reliability and superior industry-specific infrastructure will remain a strong draw for data centre operators despite rising land prices in specific districts. The city’s proximity to mainland China and its strategic role as a conduit between the GBA and the world will add further demand for the region’s data centres.
Colliers Valuation & Advisory Services’ latest research examines the potential for Hong Kong to become one of the world’s leading data centres. Its telecommunications hub status, legal framework, and reliable power infrastructure provide unique opportunities to support the data and digital economy in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and beyond.
HK’s first independent and neutral public data platform is now available, providing users with a clear and transparent way to access personal information held by the government and private sector. The website allows citizens to view and compare the data they have provided with their service providers, enabling them to exercise their rights to request access to information and make informed decisions about how their data is used.
Data hk is powered by the Citizen Lab, an international NGO that works to safeguard privacy online. The website was built in collaboration with a number of local partners, including the University of Hong Kong’s School of Journalism and Communication, InMediaHK, Keyboard Frontline and Open Effect. The website provides an easy-to-use web portal that helps Hong Kong residents submit requests to their telecommunications providers in English or Chinese. The portal was launched on 10 May and to date has generated 1603 requests.
The Hong Kong government has been discussing expanding the powers of the city’s privacy watchdog, whose officers can investigate individuals who disclose sensitive information on the internet without consent, also known as “doxxing.” The proposed legislative amendment would allow Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data to seek information from anyone, regardless of their location, in connection with investigations into doxxing activities. This is in addition to the existing powers of the Privacy Commissioner to investigate a person’s complaint, which can be made either directly or through the Hong Kong Information Commission.
A Data hk survey of more than 9,000 people in Hong Kong found that the city’s residents have high expectations for how their personal data should be used and protected. The survey, based on the EuroQol International EQ-5D-5L valuation protocol, is the first to measure societal preferences for data use and protection in Hong Kong. The results reveal that the majority of respondents believe that they should be able to control who can see their personal information and how it is used, while more than half would like to be able to delete all data about them at any time. Moreover, almost three-quarters of those interviewed consider that the city should have more laws to protect their personal data. The findings indicate that the city’s current data protection regime is outdated and should be updated to reflect global trends. It is time for the Hong Kong government to adopt the same data protection standards as the European Union and update its current Personal Data Protection Policy Ordinance (PDPO) to take into account international developments.