Various bureaus and departments say data collected from Covid testing already deleted

Various government departments said they had already deleted the personal data collected during compulsory testing operations in 2022 after the Electrical and Mechanical Services Department (EMSD) reported the latest data leak incident. 

The latest data leak incident involves the personal data of over 17,000 residents from 14 housing buildings, including citizens’ names, telephone numbers, ID card numbers and addresses. The data was collected between March and July 2022. 

The Health Bureau said except for data that is used for prosecution, all other data related to virus testing had been deleted by August last year or before. 

The Security Bureau and the Labour and Welfare Bureau both said they handed over all personal data collected to health authorities after the operations had ended and they hadn’t saved any other copies. 

The Education Bureau and the Civil Service Bureau said they deleted all relevant personal data last year. 

The Home Affairs Department said all personal data collected during its operations has been deleted but didn’t mention when. 

The Highways Department said it only assisted in one compulsory testing operation on September 1, 2022 and destroyed all personal data collected afterwards. 

The Leisure and Cultural Services Department said all data had been deleted in July 2022 except for those that would be used for prosecution. 

The EMSD earlier said it has already reported the incident to the police, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer and the Security Bureau. 

Also read: Data of over 17,000 citizens subjected to 2022 compulsory Covid testing leaked