Scott Edmunds at the Open Data Hong Kong/EncompassHK Access to Information Consultation meetup, 19th Feb 2019 at HKU

1. Open data creates public value.
Open data helps people better understand
the world around them and make better
decisions.
● Since March 2013
● Educate and inform about open data
● Foster collaborations with open data
● Advocate for more, better, open data
Budget hack event
LegCo consultation: Digital Budget
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Discussion: Right to be Forgotten
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2. The rise of FOI in HK

3. The rise of FOI in HK
https://accessinfo.hk/en/list/successful
• Data in consultation says 54,4921 complete requests
since 1995
• Of these 53,196 requests (97.6%) were met, either in
full (51,989 requests) or in part (1,207 requests). 1,296
requests (2.4%) were refused
• Accessinfo data (citizen annotated): 185 successful out
of 289 resolved = 64% success rate

4. Advocacy efforts
Submissions of the Hong Kong UPR Coalition:
• HKSAR should adopt a Freedom of Information Ordinance that
establishes maximum disclosure and minimal exemption requirements,
within one year.
• HKSAR should adopt an Archives Ordinance, incorporating
mandatory public sector compliance and penalties for non-compliance,
destruction of records and denial of access, within one year.
How to fix this? Fill policy vacuum
Signatories include:
Keyboard Frontline, Open Data Hong Kong, PEN Hong Kong, The Foreign
Correspondents' Club, Hong Kong

5. Recommendations 1& 2:
tl:dr: We need proper ATI legislation. Disclaimer: needs to be practical.

6. Recommendation 3:
tl:dr: What is information? Textual & graphical information in written or digital form

7. Recommendation 4:
tl:dr: Needs to be pro-active and transparent

8. Recommendation 5:
tl:dr: Government funded statutory bodies should now be covered. But will
start with a seemingly random list of <20% of these (82 of 470)

9. The Quasi-government complex
Lessaccountability
https://link.springer.com/article/10.1023%2FA%3A1025385431809

10. The Quasi-government complex
TCM Safety information =

11. Recommendation 6:
tl:dr: You shouldn’t have to be based in HK to apply. Everyone OK with that?

12. Recommendation 7 & 8:
tl:dr: Has been free but now you are going to have to pay. And will be tiered.
(archives will still be free though as people will notice)

13. What do other countries do?
• UK = free
• Australia, first 5 hours = free
• Canada charges $5 but waives 2/3 of these.
• US fees depend on commercial or educational/research use but
has waivers if information in public interest.
• Canada & Australia shave shown fees only recoup a few % of the
costs of administering the system.
• Australian gov has complained that charging provisions were so
complicated and time-consuming that it was not worth bothering
to levy the charges.
• Most jurisdictions (and tiered approach here) allow turning down
requests that are too difficult/expensive to carry out
• UK cost = ~$2000HKD per request ( so would cost HK 12M
HKD/year, or 0.004% of Gov budget)

14. Not discussed in proposal
• No mention of waivers or public interest
(education/research, NGOs, etc.)
• Who owns copyright of content? Can people
share requests?
• Can LegCo members still request for free? Will
they be getting spammed?
• What about 1823 requests overlapping?
• Can we still request under the code for free?
• If isn’t about cost recovery – then is this a
transparency tax?

15. Recommendation 7 & 8:
FREE
THE
DATA
We have so few rights in Hong Kong are you happy to have this one taken away?
SAY NO TO TRANSPARENCY TAXES

16. Recommendation 9:
tl:dr: Want to stop “vexatious” (spam) requests. In other juristications this is
<0.5% of requests and no evidence provided this is a problem in HK.

17. Recommendation 10:
tl:dr: keeping the same exemptions, both absolute & qualified (see next)

18. Recommendation 11:
tl:dr: Government stuff gets absolute exemptions. As does individuals privacy

19. Recommendation 12:
tl:dr: Qualified exemptions weighed against public interest but some of these
are weakly worded and make it easy to block access

20. Recommendation 12, pt. 2:
tl:dr: Can’t it be argued any data has hypothetical value? Or some level of
missing data /noise?
Why do we have this exemption?

21. Inconsistent reasons for not returning data…
Reject again based on: “Information relating to incomplete
analysis, research or statistics, where disclosure could be
misleading or deprive the department or any other person of
priority of publication or commercial value.”
“in view of the confidentiality of the content, your requested
data could not be provided.”
Errr, there isn’t any identifiable data. It’s all anonymised.
https://accessinfo.hk/en/request/suspicious_transaction_report_hu

22. Inconsistent reasons for not returning data…
(…9 months later)

23. Inconsistent reasons for not returning data…
https://www.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/law-and-crime/article/2167899/activists-shocked-after-
hong-kong-police-chiefs-block
“Meanwhile, following a complaint
made to the Ombudsman in Nov
2017 under the code on access to
information by the data transparency
group ODHK, the watchdog ruled
that as “unsubstantiated” allegations
that the police refused to release
data on the number of suspicious
transaction reports it received linked
to human trafficking on the grounds
that it might “prejudice the
prevention of crime”. However, the
Ombudsman’s report, published at
the end of a nine-month
investigation, also found
inadequacies with the way the force
implemented the code.”

24. Recommendation 13:
tl;dr: Exemption period = 30 years

25. Recommendation 14 & 15:
tl;dr: Chief Secretary, Financial Secretary & the Secretary for Justice can
block release of stuff with exemption certificates. Carried over to archives.

26. Recommendation 16:
tl;dr: Review/Appeal process the same but no longer includes any
timelines/deadlines for response
Wot no timelines?

27. Recommendation 16 & 17:
tl;dr: Review/Appeal process the same but no longer includes any
timelines/deadlines for response. Archives will now follow these too.
Wot no timelines?

28. Recommendation 18 & 19:
tl;dr: Will be an offence to withhold or alter data. Though will not set up a
new Information Commission. The Ombudsman is the person enforcing (COI?)

29. Recommendation 20:
tl;dr: Getting non-gov bodies involved is going to make things complicated
regarding disclosure. If in doubt go to the Ombudsman

30. How do we provide feedback?
https://www.hkreform.gov.hk/en/projects/accesstoinfo.htm
Need to send responses to Sub-committee secretary Ms Cathy
Wan by fax, post or email.
Address: 4/F, East Wing, Justice Place, 18 Lower Albert Road,
Central, Hong Kong.
Telephone: (852) 3918 4097/Fax: (852) 3918 4096
Email: hklrc@hkreform.gov.hk
What are the next steps?

31. Don’t miss next gathering
https://www.facebook.com/events/394613234681380/
HKU (JMSC) on Saturday 2nd March, 10am-17.45