Privacy Commissioner says blind ads may violate Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance
Hong Kong's Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (PCPD) has launched an investigation against five organisations that placed blind ads on recruitment platforms.
The probe comes after the PCPD found 23 blind ads after reviewing 22,270 recruitment advertisements across 13 online recruitment platforms from June to September 2024.
"With a view to protecting the personal data privacy of members of the public, the PCPD has proactively initiated investigations against five organisations that had placed Blind Ads," the office said in a statement.
Blind ads refer to job postings that do not identify the recruiting organisation, do not contain sufficient information to identify the organisation, and do not provide an avenue for jobseekers to make further enquiries.
These ads, however, invite these job applicants to submit their personal data, such as their Hong Kong Identity Card numbers, contact details, or resumes.
"Blind ads may be used as an unscrupulous means to collect personal data and may be misused by swindlers to collect personal data for fraudulent activities," said Ada Chung Lai-ling, Hong Kong's privacy commissioner for personal data, in a statement.
According to the PCPD, these blind ads may constitute a contravention of Hong Kong's Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PDPO).
The PDPO's Data Protection Principle requires the lawful and fair collection of personal data, and that organisations must take all practical steps to notify the data subjects of the purpose of data collection on or before the collection of the data.
Protecting jobseekers' data
The PCPD urged employers to refrain from placing blind ads to collect job applicants' personal data in order to protect jobseekers and project a positive corporate image. It further encouraged them to:
- Increase transparency in placing recruitment advertisements and disclose the identities of the organisations.
- If necessary, consider engaging a recruitment agency that is identified in the advertisement to collect the personal data from job applicants.
Meanwhile, the PCPD also urged recruitment platforms to be vigilant about anyone using blind ads to perpetrate fraud or collect data by unfair means.
It also encouraged them to "carefully review" recruitment advertisements to identify and avoid publishing blind ads.
For jobseekers, the PCPD told them to "check and verify" employers' identities and avoid responding to blind ads arbitrarily.
"When job seekers are unable to ascertain the employers' identities, they should check and verify the information contained in the blind ads carefully and should not respond to the blind ads arbitrarily and submit their personal data," Chung said.
