Stolen laptops carrying voter information triggers security review at Hong Kong electoral office

Office to spend about HK$5 million on sending letters to every voter about the theft

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The Chairman of the Electoral Affairs Commission, Justice Barnabas Fung Wah (Centre) opens ballot box at Hong Kong Chief Executive Election. Photo: Sam Tsang

Published: 4:05pm, 8 Apr 2017Updated: 4:08pm, 8 Apr 2017

Hong Kong’s electoral office will review its security measures and supervision protocols following the theft of two laptop computers containing the personal information of 3.7 million voters, the city’s constitutional affairs minister said.

Secretary for Constitutional and Mainland Affairs Raymond Tam Chi-yuen also defended the Registration and Electoral Office’s decision to spend about HK$5 million on sending letters to every voter informing them about the incident.

“This is the most direct and the best way to notify them, because not everyone would notice it even if we explained in through the media or our press releases,” he said on a Commercial Radio programme on Saturday.

Last Monday, staff from the electoral office discovered two laptops had been stolen from a storeroom at the AsiaWorld-Expo centre on Lantau Island, which served as a back-up venue for the chief executive election on March 26. The laptops contained the names, addresses and identity card numbers of 3.7 million voters.

The Registration and Electoral Office (REO) said the information was needed at the venue to check the identities of the 1,194 Election Committee members on the day. The office’s reasoning was quickly criticised as “nonsensical”, as all that was required was a list of the committee members.

Tam, who previously apologised for the incident, said during the radio programme he agreed that voter information “should not be stored on a laptop away from the government’s office”, and it was too risky.