Is an IP Address Personal Information under Hong Kong Privacy Law?
IBLS Editorial Department Tuesday, July 28, 2009 Privacy laws protect personal individuals’ identifiable information. IP (Internet protocol) addresses itself are not considered personal information, although they may lead to other individuals” personal information such as address, telephone number, name and date of birth, among others. Do IP addresses constitute personal information under China privacy law? This article answers this question by presenting a 2007-Hong Kong’s case. The IP address and e-mail login information of an Internet account holder does not constitute personal information within the meaning of Hong Kong Personal Data Ordinance (Cap 486). 1 HKC 287 (2007) [hereafter HKC]. In this case, a Mainland China journalist was convicted of a crime of illegally providing state secrets to foreign entities via e-mail and was sentenced to 10 years imprisonment. Before his criminal conviction, the journalist complained before Hong Kong Privacy Commissioner of Personal Data. The Co
