PRIVACY POLICY

The University of Hong Kong Clinical Trials Centre ("HKU-CTC"), a research centre of The University of Hong Kong (“HKU”), respect the privacy of the users of this Website and is committed to protecting the users’ personal data collected via this Website and complying with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance of Hong Kong (Chapter 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong), the details of which is available on the website of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong at www.pcpd.org.hk. If you have any question about your rights under the Ordinance, you may contact the Office of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data of Hong Kong.

We treasure your trust on HKU-CTC as the data user responsible for the collection, holding, processing and use of your personal data. When you use this Website, every effort is made to protect and safeguard any personal data that you share with us. This Privacy Policy outlines how we collect, hold, process and use your personal data via this Website. Please read and review this Privacy Policy before accessing and using this Website. For inquiries about this Privacy Policy, you may contact our Personal Data Protection Coordinator by email to pdpcctc@hku.hk. By accessing and using this Website, you agree to this Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, please exit from this Website.

We reserve the right to change, modify, add or remove any portion of this Privacy Policy at our sole discretion and at any time without prior notice. It is your responsibility to check this Privacy Policy periodically for changes. Your continued use of this Website following the posting of changes will mean that you accept and agree to those changes.

This Privacy Policy is available in English and Chinese. In case of discrepancies between the English and Chinese versions, the English version shall apply and prevail.

Collection of Data

To protect your privacy, we try to limit the collection of personal data from you to a strict minimum. Other than the technical data described in the following paragraph, we will not collect your personal data when you use this Website, unless you volunteer to provide your data to us for a specific purpose, such as registering as a “healthONEners” member, taking part in our surveys and handling your inquiries. If you are under the age of 18 or are mentally incapacitated, you should obtain your parent's, guardian's, next-of-kin's or carer's consent before providing your personal data to us.

To support your use of this Website, we need to collect data originating from the browsers that you use to access this Website. This includes your IP addresses and data identifying your devices (such as the models, operating systems and language settings of your device). We may also record your visits to this Website. The information collected (such as IP addresses and device models) is anonymous aggregated research data, and contains no name, address or any information that will enable anyone to contact you via telephone, email or any other means. Such information is used for internal analysis on the number of visitors to this Website and general usage patterns to measure the performance, effectiveness and usability of this Website.

Purposes of Data Collection

We may collect your personal data through this Website for:

• registering you as a “healthONEners” member and providing you with updates of member benefits and information in relation to our clinical studies, activities and news;
• conducting surveys regarding your use of this Website or HKU-CTC’s business or activities; and/or
• handling your inquiries.

Data Security

We take data security as our priority. We will strive at all times to ensure that your personal data will be protected against unauthorized or accidental access, processing, erasure and/or use by implementing appropriate electronic, physical and managerial measures. If needed, encryption technology may be employed for the transmission of your personal data collected on this Website. Nevertheless, by using this Website, you acknowledge and agree that Internet transmissions are never completely private or secure, and any data and information you send through this Website may be read or intercepted by others.

Disclosure of Data

Your personal data will be kept confidential by HKU-CTC, a research centre of HKU. We will not disclose your personal data to any third party except, where reasonably required, to:

• any affiliated organizations of HKU-CTC or HKU (including their officers, directors, employees, trustees, agents, contractors and third party partners);
• any agents, contractors or third party partners of HKU-CTC or HKU (including their officers, directors, employees, trustees, agents, contractors and third party partners), provided that they have undertaken to keep your personal data confidential; and/or
• any regulatory authorities and governmental bodies.

Such data may be transferred within and to any place outside Hong Kong.

Data Retention

We will take all reasonable and practical steps to comply with the legal and regulatory requirements of Hong Kong concerning the retention of your personal data. Any unnecessary personal data will be purged from our system from time to time in accordance with our internal procedures.

Data Access and Correction

As a data subject, you have the right to request access to and correction of your personal data held by us. Any request for access to or correction of your personal data should be sent in writing to our Personal Data Protection Coordinator by email to pdpcctc@hku.hk. We are entitled to charge a reasonable fee for processing your data access request.

Last Update: 31 October, 2020