As protests continue to rock Hong Kong, social media sites are now being used to share names, photos, phone numbers, ages and occupationa of individuals “on both sides of the protest line,” reports the Guardian:
Supporters of the Hong Kong government have sought to identify masked protesters at demonstrations, while protesters themselves also appear to have taken part, sharing private information about police officers and their families across Telegram… Hong Kong’s privacy commission said it had received 1,376 complaints and 126 enquiries between 14 June and 18 September regarding personal information being leaked online, according to Stephen Kai-yi Wong, privacy commissioner for personal data. While journalists have become a high-profile target, about 40% of cases involve police officers while the rest concern government officials, community leaders, the families of police officers, and other citizens, Wong said….
Craig Choy, a spokesperson for Hong Kong’s Progressive Lawyers Group and a specialist in data protection law, said the high volume of cases was unprecedented in Hong Kong… The privacy commission has referred nearly 1,000 cases for criminal investigation and consideration for prosecution. Eight people were arrested in July for doxxing police officers, according to Hong Kong Free Press. Choy said doxxing of police began after officers stopped wearing badge numbers on their uniforms when they attended protests — leading protesters to attempt to identify officers independently as police tactics and arrests began to escalate.
of this story at Slashdot.
Source:: Slashdot