Privacy rules broken in data leak of major fashion brands finds Hong Kong watchdog
Advertisement
The incident in May last year concerned ImagineX management, a company established in 1992 which managed over 20 international fashion and beauty brands in Hong Kong, Macau, the mainland and Taiwan.
'The Privacy Commissioner found that ImagineX had not taken all practicable steps to ensure that the personal data involved was protected against unauthorised or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use,' said Brad Kwok Ching-hei, the watchdog's chief personal data officer, on Monday.
The company had contravened the Data Protection Principle (DPP) 4(1) of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance concerning the security of personal data, he added.
The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data's six rounds of investigation found that the leak had affected mainly two loyalty programs – ICARD and Brook Brothers – managed by the company concerning a total of 127,268 people.
Advertisement
The victims included 100,185 ICARD members and 27,069 Brook Brothers members, who faced their personal data, including names, email addresses, telephone numbers, birth months, genders and nationalities being exposed.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- South China Morning Post
6 luxury European stealth travel destinations, from Menorca to Slovenia
Not long ago, luxury travellers planned their itineraries to see and be seen. Now the ultimate flex is hiding entirely from public view. Yesterday's hallmarks of status – a sun-drenched table at Le Club 55 near St Tropez, a front-row lounger at Cala Jondal in Ibiza, dropping anchor off Nammos Beach in Mykonos – have been overtaken by influencers. Anonymity and discretion have become prime commodities for today's most affluent travellers. Stealth wealth may have given way to flashiness in 2025, but stealth travel is still all the rage. 'We've noticed a shift away from the typical luxury hotspots toward destinations that offer a deeper sense of privacy and exclusivity,' says Jaclyn Sienna India, CEO of Sienna Charles, a travel consultant catering to billionaires and the global 1 per cent. Clients are increasingly favouring places that require genuine effort to reach, signalling a desire for experiences that are intentionally off the beaten path: Lake Orta over Lake Como; Corsica over Cannes; Patmos over Mykonos; Menorca over Mallorca; and private island resorts throughout the Caribbean, such as Como Parrot Cay or Jumby Bay Island, over the high-profile hang-outs of Saint Barts. The shift is trickling down to more luxury travellers and affecting the expansion strategies of legacy hospitality brands. Not only are they building resorts in some of these next-great destinations, but they are also designing them to have the privacy-first blueprints that skyrocketed in demand during the pandemic. 'Hotels are creating more stand-alone accommodation, like cottages, so people can have the privacy of a villa rental even within a resort,' says Melissa Biggs Bradley, founder of high-end travel company Indagare.
South China Morning Post
6 days ago
- South China Morning Post
Do not equate William Lai and the DPP with Taiwan democracy
Like most people everywhere, Taiwanese worry about jobs, their livelihoods and, if they run a business, the direction of the economy. So Donald Trump's universal tariff war may be of some concern or at least interest to most of them. That's because it's been clear for some time that the US president doesn't distinguish between friend and foe when it comes to imposing duties on your exports to his country. In fact, if you are a traditional American ally or friend, he is likely to be even harsher because it makes you an easy mark for bullying. And so the island's leader William Lai Ching-te 'temporarily breathed a sigh of relief after learning that its exports to the United States will face a 20 per cent tariff – lower than the initially feared 32 per cent.' Well done, what an achievement! Even the much-despised European Union gets 15 per cent tariffs. And Taiwan is supposed to be the global hub of democracy where America is ready to spill its own blood to defend? No wonder Lai gets such dismal approval ratings The problem is that only now, at the last minute, Lai and his independence-seeking Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) make negotiating trade terms with Washington top of the island's news agenda. Before, while every other major government around the world was prioritising trade negotiations to minimise the economic damage coming from Washington, Lai was busy touring the island to warn against mainland China's existential threat. He has declared the mainland 'a foreign hostile force', showed off heavy American weapons like Abrams tanks, promoted urban warfare drills, and rewrote the history of the Republic of China (the island's official name) to deny its historical roots in the mainland. Then came la piece de resistance: the mass recall vote against opposition lawmakers. Through a quirk of the electoral system, you could recall legislators and run by-elections to replace them if there are enough voters to support the effort.
South China Morning Post
02-08-2025
- South China Morning Post
No need to amend law in light of AI porn case, Hong Kong privacy chief says
The head of Hong Kong's privacy watchdog has said there is no immediate need to amend the law to specifically target the creation of AI-generated deepfake pornography, stressing that existing legislation is sufficient to handle offences. In her most detailed comments following a recent high-profile case at the University of Hong Kong, Ada Chung Lai-ling said on Saturday that because the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance was 'principle-based' and 'technology-neutral', it applied to the misuse of personal data in deepfake images. 'The Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance is still applicable … For now, we do not see a need to amend the law,' Chung said at a seminar at the Hong Kong News-Expo. Chung, the privacy commissioner for personal data, said her office would handle complaints concerning AI-generated porn in the same way as any other case involving the collection or disclosure of data. She also noted that other existing laws, such as criminal ordinances that prohibited the disclosure of obscene images, could apply. Ada Chung has confirmed that her office has launched a criminal investigation into the case. Photo: Yik Yeung-man
