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LCQ16: Person-to-person telemarketing calls
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     Following is a question by the Hon Lau Kong-wah and a written reply by the acting Secretary for Commerce and Economic Development, Mr Gregory So, in the Legislative Council today (November 26):

Question:

     Regarding person-to-person telemarketing calls, will the Government inform this Council:

(a) of the number of complaints received by the authorities over the past two years from mobile telephone users about such marketing activities and, among these cases, the respective numbers of those in which the complainants alleged that the calls had caused nuisance or were made with intent to defraud, or queried how the marketers obtained their telephone numbers; of the details of those cases involving fraud and the follow-up actions taken by the authorities; and whether the authorities have investigated if the malpractice of selling personal data was involved in such cases; and

(b) whether it has examined if there has been an upward trend in such marketing activities over the past two years; if there has been such a trend, of the circumstances under which the authorities will consider regulating such activities through legislation?

Reply:

President,

     The Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (UEMO), which fully commenced operation on December 22, 2007, regulates the sending of commercial electronic messages, including pre-recorded messages sent to telephones, messages through short messaging services, faxes and emails. At present, the UEMO does not cover person-to-person telemarketing calls.

     The UEMO excludes person-to-person telemarketing calls mainly because most business establishments in Hong Kong are small and medium enterprises, which rely on electronic communication as a means of marketing. As such, in drawing up the UEMO, the Government has excluded such calls from the ambit of the Ordinance to avoid affecting the development of legitimate electronic marketing in Hong Kong.

     However, the Government has been closely monitoring the situation of person-to-person telemarketing calls. The Office of the Telecommunications Authority (OFTA) commissioned a survey in late October this year to assess the extent of the problem of person-to-person telemarketing calls and to gauge the views of the public towards such calls.

     Separately, the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO) contains provisions concerning use of personal data in direct marketing. According to Section 34 of the PDPO, a data user who uses personal data for direct marketing purposes has to cease to use such data if the person who is the subject of the data so requests.

     The specific reply to the question is as follows:

(a) Since the full commencement of the UEMO until November 12, 2008, the OFTA handled a total of 4,869 cases, of which 61 were related to person-to-person calls. Among these 61 cases, 37 involved commercial marketing activities (Note 1) and 4 were opinion survey calls. For the remaining 20 cases, the complainants did not provide information on the contents of the calls.

     Among the above 61 cases, the complainants in 9 cases indicated that the person-to-person calls had caused inconvenience or nuisance to them and the OFTA had advised one complainant to consider reporting the nuisance to the Police; the complainants in 5 cases queried how the marketers have obtained their telephone numbers. The OFTA has not received cases concerning the malpractice of selling personal data.

     Since the full commencement of the UEMO, the OFTA has not received any complaints about telephone fraud from the public. Upon receiving complaints on telephone fraud or nuisance, the OFTA would advise complainants to report such cases to the Police.

     The Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) has received 87 complaints about direct marketing in 2007 and 54 such complaints this year up to November 12. The PCPD does not maintain separate statistics on complaints about telemarketing and nuisance calls, or on cases where the complainants questioned the sources from which the marketers obtained their information. Besides, the PCPD does not investigate into complaints involving fraud, and would instead advise the complainants to seek assistance from the Police in such cases. As such, no statistics are kept on complaints involving fraud.

(b) The OFTA commissioned a survey in late October 2008 to assess the extent of the problem of person-to-person telemarketing calls and to gauge the views of the public towards such calls. Upon completion of the survey, the Government will consider carefully the findings of the survey and the way forward with a view to striking a balance between the interests of the recipients and the senders of such messages.

Note 1: The numbers of cases in which calls were made to mobile phones and fixed line telephones were 29 and 8 respectively.

Ends/Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Issued at HKT 14:50

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