7/17/2020 CACV73/2020 JUNIOR POLICE OFFICERS’ ASSOCIATION OF THE HONG KONG POLICE FORCE AND ANOTHER v. ELECTORAL … “ … it is possible that the information which offenders provide to the police will be wrongly conveyed to third parties in circumstances where disclosure is not appropriate. The same can be said of the information which we have to supply, say, to Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs, or to the social security authorities. The proportionality of the requirements to provide that information has to be judged by reference to its proper use, not by reference to any possible misuse. Organisations which gather sensitive information will, in practice, have adopted administrative practices that are designed to minimize the risk of misuse. The Data Protection Act 1998 provides a legal framework for handling personal data and makes knowing or reckless disclosure of the data a criminal offence. That framework applies to the gathering and retention of information supplied under the 2003 Act. In that situation the proportionality of the requirements made by the Act should be judged on the basis that the information supplied will be handled appropriately. If, as may well happen on occasions, the information is wrongly disclosed or otherwise misused, then the assumption must be that appropriate steps will be taken both to identify and punish those who misuse it and to prevent similar misuse in the future.” 90. These comments were made in the context of the use of the relevant information by public authorities. We are prepared to extend this to members of the press (who, as we have observed, have so far been using the Linked Information responsibly) and the political parties. We are, however, unable to say the same with regard to someone who has the ulterior and nefarious intent to obtain the Linked Information of a targeted person for unlawful use, which is the kind of situation where the limited discretion is called for. 91. With the possible counter measures discussed above that could be put in place, it is difficult to see any real inroad to the Transparent Election Aim occasioned by having a limited discretion to withhold Linked Information generally. The integrity of the register can be maintained by verification of the principal residential address through the proof of address submitted by a person to the ERO and inspection limited to candidates, political parties and the press. Public confidence in the electoral process will also be maintained by the knowledge that the limited discretion is only restricted to cases with justifiable safety concerns and that there are other counter-balance measures in place to warrant the integrity of the register. https://legalref.judiciary.hk/lrs/common/search/search_result_detail_frame.jsp?DIS=128057&QS=%2B&TP=JU&ILAN=en 29/39