Extreme caution urged as data privacy complaints jump 62% in AI era

Hongkongers should exercise extreme caution in guarding their personal data, especially during online shopping and membership sign-ups, the city’s privacy watchdog has said after privacy complaints jumped more than 60 per cent year on year in the first half of 2026.

Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Ada Chung Lai-ling said on Saturday that residents’ personal data had become a valuable, tradeable commodity in the age of technology.

The Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data received 2,990 complaints in the first half of the year, a 62 per cent increase from the same period last year.

Of these, the information technology sector accounted for the highest number, with 867 cases.

Chung attributed the spike to the artificial intelligence (AI) era, in which data could be collected, processed and used rapidly and at scale, leading to more online disputes.

“Public awareness regarding personal data and privacy protection has also improved,” she told a radio programme.