Privacy grouses surge to nearly 3,000 in first half

Nearly 3,000 privacy complaints were filed with the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data in the first half of the year, marking a more than 60 percent increase compared to the previous year, according to an article. The surge in complaints is primarily attributed to the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI), as Commissioner Ada Chung noted during a Commercial Radio show.

Chung explained that the prevalence of social media platforms and the Internet has led citizens to share various personal data on these platforms. She also pointed to increased public awareness regarding data protection as a factor driving the spike in complaints.

IT-related complaints, which accounted for over 800 grievances, constituted a significant portion of the overall complaints received by the office. While Chung acknowledged that many companies had outsourced the management of their information systems to third parties, she emphasized that this outsourcing did not absolve the companies from their primary responsibility to safeguard the personal data they possess.

"The responsibility still lies with the data users," she stressed. "That means the company or the organisation itself still has the primary responsibility to safeguard the personal data in their possession."

To assist companies in identifying potential risks and vulnerabilities in data protection, the Office recently launched a free data privacy and web security scan programme for schools, NGOs, and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The programme, which is set to continue until November 16, offers a valuable resource for organizations that often lack the necessary resources to conduct such checks. Chung mentioned that the programme could be extended if there is overwhelming demand from these groups.