Official Receiver's Office loses magnetic backup tapes containing personal information of 76,000

The Official Receiver's Office apologized over an incident involving the loss of seven magnetic backup tapes containing the personal data of about 76,000 people.

The office added the tapes were stored in a locked case and the data was highly encrypted. After consulting the Digital Policy Office, the OPO considered the risk of personal data leakage to be “extremely low”.

“Based on the current investigation, there is no evidence that the data contained on the tapes has been read or compromised,” an office spokesman said on Monday night.

“The ORO is sending notifications to the relevant individuals by batch.”

He said that the office “attaches the utmost importance” to the incident and expressed sincere apologies.

The OPO received the report last Wednesday (Jan 22), that the tapes were lost during a transit by the office’s staff on December 23.

The incident has been reported to the relevant authorities including the Hong Kong Police Force, the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, the Security Bureau, and the Digital Policy Office.

He added the OPO has taken immediate action to review all transit procedures and data protection practices.

It is also conducting a thorough investigation into the staff concerned and details of the incident, including the delay in reporting the loss to senior management.

Eunice Lam