Personal Information Collection Statement
Please read this notice before you provide any personal data# to the Social Welfare Department
Purposes of Collection
1. The personal data supplied by you will be used by the Social Welfare Department (SWD) and/or those non-governmental organisations (“NGOs”) which receive subventions or subsidies from or which are commissioned by SWD to provide you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members with assistance or service from SWD and/or the aforementioned NGOs which is relevant to the needs of you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members, including but not limited to monitoring and reviewing of services, handling complaints related to the services provided to you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members, conducting research and surveys, preparing statistics and discharging statutory duties, as well as recovering debt related to the assistance/service provided to you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members. The provision of personal data to SWD is voluntary. However, if you fail to provide the personal data requested of you, we may not be able to process your application or provide assistance/service to you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members.
Classes of Transferees
2. The personal data you provide will be made available to persons working in SWD on a need-to-know basis. Apart from this, they may be disclosed to the parties or in the circumstances listed below for the purposes mentioned in paragraph 1 above -
(a) Other parties such as government bureaux/departments, the Hospital Authority, NGOs and public utility companies if they are involved in:
(i) processing and/or assessing any application from you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members for the provision of service/assistance to you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members by SWD and/or the NGOs mentioned in paragraph 1 above;
(ii) the provision of service/assistance to you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members by SWD and/or the NGOs mentioned in paragraph 1 above; or
(iii) monitoring and reviewing of the services provided by SWD and/or the NGOs mentioned in paragraph 1 above or preparing statistics;
(b) Complaint handling authorities such as the Office of the Ombudsman, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, the Social Workers Registration Board, the Legislative Council, etc. if they are handling complaints about the services or assistance provided to you/the victim and/or your/the victim’s family members by SWD; (c) Where such disclosure is authorised or required by law; or
(d) Where you have given your prescribed consent to such disclosure.
Access to Personal Data
3. You have the right to request access to and correction of your personal data held by SWD in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap 486. A fee is charged for supplying copies of personal data. Requests for access to and correction of personal data collected by SWD should be addressed to Supervisor of the respective social security field units
(For addresses and telephone numbers of social security field units, please visit our Departmental Homepage:
https://www.swd.gov.hk/en/contactus/contactinfo/
).
# Under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, Cap. 486, personal data means any data –
(a) relating directly or indirectly to a living individual;
(b) from which it is practicable for the identity of the individual to be directly or indirectly ascertained; and
(c) in a form in which access to or processing of the data is practicable.
