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Following is a written reply by the Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs, Mr Stephen Lam, (in the absence of Secretary for Security) to a question by the Hon Emily Lau in the Legislative Council today (April 16):
Question:
Some members of the public have recently told me that in February this year when the Police were investigating a case relating to the circulation of nude photos of artistes on the Internet, some police officers made copies of the photos inside an artiste's portable computer, produced CD-ROMs of them and stored them in flash memory chips, and circulated such CD-ROMs and memory chips within the Police Force and among their relatives for perusal. In this connection, will the Executive Authorities inform this Council:
(a) whether they are aware of the aforesaid situation; if so, how they will deal with the police officers concerned; if not, whether they will conduct an investigation into this matter;
(b) how the Police take care of exhibits stored in electronic form, and whether they have assigned staff to guard these exhibits to prevent unauthorised access to them; if so, of the details;
(c) of the persons who are authorised to access exhibits stored in electronic form, and whether they are required to report to their superiors that they have accessed the exhibits and record the details of such access; and
(d) how the Police will prevent the leak of personal data and privacy information involved in exhibits stored in electronic form?
Reply:
Madam President,
(a) The Police are not aware of any instance of the situation described in the main question. If there is any evidence suggesting that police officers were involved in improper behaviour or act in contravention of the Force's internal guidelines, the Police will initiate investigation in accordance with established procedures.
(b) to (d) The Police handle all types of exhibits (including exhibits stored in electronic form) in accordance with the same procedure. If a police officer seizes any exhibit in the course of an investigation, he is required to deposit the exhibit with the officer in the respective police station who is responsible for handling exhibits. This officer will record, seal and properly store the exhibit. Only authorised officers or officers handling the case may retrieve the exhibits for specified purposes, including follow-up investigation, attendance in court, forensic examination, etc. The reason for the retrieval or return of the exhibit, as well as the details of the relevant responsible officer(s), must be recorded.
Supervisory officers conduct regular checks on exhibits and monitor the officers who are designated to handle exhibits in order to ensure that exhibits are properly managed. Upon the completion of a case, an officer at the rank of Chief Inspector will be responsible for authorising the return, destruction or other disposal means of the relevant exhibits.
The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap. 486) stipulates the requirements concerning the handling and use of personal data for the purpose of protecting privacy. The Police strictly comply with the relevant requirements. The existing Force's procedures on the handling and use of exhibits (including exhibits stored in electronic form) comply with the requirements for protecting data as set out in the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.
Ends/Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Issued at HKT 16:59
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