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Hong Kong Online Bettors Not Guaranteed Privacy30 April 2002HONG KONG – As reported by the Sing Tao Daily: "The government made no promises to legislators yesterday that privacy would not be compromised when prosecuting punters placing bets via the Internet. "Deputy Secretary for Home Affairs Stephen Fisher would not give a reply to Democrat legislator Andrew Cheng, who urged the administration to protect privacy and the freedom to surf the Internet. "…The concern was raised after Fisher pointed out that banks or credit card companies would be liable in future if they knew about accounts used in gambling activities but did not report them to the police. "…While banks and credit card companies had said they would reject clients making deposits to overseas bookmakers' accounts, they did not promise not to hand over to police relevant personal information of clients who transferred gambling money from banks. Bills committee member Audrey Eu said the law should allow financial institutions to report such information to police voluntarily. "…With about HK$20 billion (US$2.6 billion) spent annually on local and offshore soccer gambling, the government said it would reconsider the legalisation of soccer gambling after it looked at the impact of measures against illegal bookmaking and betting during the World Cup." |