Giving special regard to youth and children
Data Protection Principle 1 of the Ordinance provides, among other requirements, that personal data shall be collected by means which are fair in the circumstances of the case. Children and young persons are vulnerable and collecting information including personal data directly from them without appropriate parental control and supervision could be regarded as unfair collection of personal data. However, unlike America, Hong Kong does yet not have a specific legislation controlling the collection and use of personal data supplied by under age young people and children.
However, the PCO is of the view that when collecting information from children, an organization must take Principle 1 of the Ordinance into account and ensure that information is collected in ways that are ‘lawful and fair’. Sites aimed at minors are therefore strongly urged to carefully consider their policies for collecting information from young persons, and to involve parents/guardians in the data collection process.
The following links take you to privacy statements for sites aimed at young children:
· www.ctw.org/aboutus/privacy_policy.php#privacy2
· www.yahooligans.com/docs/safety/privacy.html
Notice how these statements provide guidance notes to parents on how to supervise their children when they surf the Internet.