Privacy watchdog signs global joint statement calling on social media firms to guard against mass scraping of data
Hong Kong Free Press
Hong Kong’s Office of the Privacy Commissioner (PCPD) for Personal Data has joined data protection authorities from the UK, Australia and other countries to sign a global statement calling on social media platforms to guard against the mass scraping of personal data.
Fifteen other international privacy or data protections authorities issued the guidance to social media companies including Meta and Alphabet, according to a PCPD statement on Tuesday. The statement comes amid concerns about user data being extracted – or “scraped” – for purposes such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) system training.
In the press release, the PCPD warned that data can be unlawfully obtained and shared on “the dark web without the knowledge and consent of the data subject, leading to exploitation of personal data for targeted cyberattacks, identity fraud, and unwanted direct marketing or spam messages.”
The joint statement asks social media firms to deploy safeguarding measures to protect users against unlawful scraping. It suggests they could use AI technologies to help combat illegal data extraction, and provide permission to partner organisations to prevent unauthorised scraping. It also said that – when developing AI models – firms should respect data protection and privacy laws.
The statement also urged for better public education and enforcement, whilst guiding Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to implement protections against unlawful scraping.
Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data Ada Chung said in the press release that the statement has an aim of “reminding social media platforms and websites that host publicly accessible personal data that they have a responsibility to ensure that those personal data are adequately protected against unlawful data scraping, as well as providing further guidance to the industry.”
AI concerns
The PCPD co-chairs the Global Privacy Assembly’s International Enforcement Cooperation Working Group, which issued the statement alongside privacy or data protection authorities from Argentina, Australia, Canada, Colombia, Guernsey, Israel, Jersey, Mexico, Monaco, Morocco, New Zealand, Norway, Spain, Switzerland and the UK.
Wednesday’s statement builds on an initial statement published last August, which was sent to tech firms such as Alphabet (YouTube), Meta (Instagram, Facebook and Threads), Microsoft (LinkedIn) and X Corp. (X, formerly Twitter). The PCPD said the tech firms have implemented many of the recommended measures following meetings with them.
Two weeks ago, Microsoft’s LinkedIn suspended training its AI models on Hong Kong users’ data in a move welcomed by the city’s privacy watchdog. LinkedIn halted the use of Hong Kong user data this month as the PCPD expressed concerns over default opt-in settings for LinkedIn users.
Without directly notifying users, LinkedIn last month began using user data to train generative AI models responsible for the website’s writing suggestions.
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