The Society of Construction Law Hong Kong (“we”, “our”, “us”) is committed to protecting the privacy, confidentiality and security of your personal data by complying with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (Cap 486 of the Laws of Hong Kong) (“PDPO”) and the Data Protection Principles contained therein. In doing so, we are equally committed to ensuring that all our employees and agents uphold these requirements.
This privacy policy (“Policy”) will help you understand how we collect, use and handle your personal data. It also describes your data protection rights, including your right to make data access and correction requests.
COLLECTION AND USE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We collect your personal data, that is, information (a) relating directly or indirectly to a living individual, (b) from which it is practicable for the identity of the individual to be directly or indirectly ascertained and (c) in a form in which access to or processing of the data is practicable; or such wider definition as provided in the PDPO.
The types of personal data we collect may include:
- your contact details, including your name, address, email address and phone number;
- name of your employer or firm;
- professional information such as position, occupation and interests;
- degrees and qualifications, and current involvement in construction law;
- username and password of your user account with us;
- personal data contained in your proof of student position (if you are applying for student membership);
- payment information;
- when you visit our website, your internet protocol (IP) address, device details or identifiers, usage and location data; and
- any other information as determined by your interaction with us.
We collect and handle your personal data when you register as our member, purchase or download our published papers, attend our meetings or events and/or interact with us, including through our website and/or social media channels.
While we mostly collect personal data directly from you, in some circumstances your personal data may be collected indirectly from a third-party, such as our partnering organisations. We may also collect publicly available information about you.
Your personal data will be stored and used by us for the following purposes, for other purposes as shall be agreed between you and us or as required by law from time to time:
- to process your membership application;
- to facilitate your membership with us and provide member support;
- to provide you with the opportunity to participate in our meetings, seminars, conferences and/or events, and for us to support and administer such activities;
- to send you our published papers and/or news and information about our meetings, seminars, conferences and events;
- to contact you to address your questions, resolve the issues you face and provide your requested support;
- to improve our services and members’ benefits, to identify your preferences and enable you to personalise your website experience and to tailor our interactions with you;
- to understand your preferences and behaviours in order to offer you a better user experience by the use of cookies and data sorting and analysis;
- to investigate complaints and suspicious communications or transactions;
- to prevent and detect crimes;
- to satisfy our legal obligations, including responding to requests by government or law enforcement authorities conducting an investigation; and
- to provide direct marketing materials to you if you have given the necessary consent regarding direct marketing.
We endeavour to only collect personal data which is necessary and adequate but not excessive for the purpose of collection. It is generally voluntary for you to provide the personal data requested by us. However, failure to provide certain required personal data (usually marked with an asterisk (*) on the relevant forms) may result in us being unable to provide the service you request.
USE OF COOKIES
[Cookies are small pieces of data stored on a user's computer device by a web browser. A cookie is a small piece of text sent to your browser by a website that you visit. It helps the website to remember information about your visit, like your preferred language and other settings. That can make your next visit easier and the site more useful to you.]
We may use cookies and related technologies to deliver content specific to your interest, for authentication purposes, to monitor interactions users have with our content and features on our website, remarketing and to improve security during your online session. [Remarketing is a form of digital advertising that can deliver relevant messages to users based on their previous browsing behaviours. Remarketing will often fall on third party websites, applications or social media.]
For detailed information on the cookies we use and the purposes for which we use them, please refer to our Cookies Policy.
It is possible to disable cookies via your web browser, however, doing so may restrict your ability to access some of our web pages.
SHARING OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
Personal data you provide to us may be disclosed or transferred to:
- banks, credit card issuers, payment gateways or payment service providers to verify your payment details and status;
- server in Europe;
- agents, contractors or other third-party service providers which provide data processing, data storage and data analytics services;
- contracted service providers which we use to perform services on our behalf, such as information technology, conferences & events, mailing houses, logistics, security, research, and marketing & communication;
- law enforcement and regulatory bodies as required or permitted by law; and
- without your consent as required under court orders, subpoenas and other legal processes or investigations as required by law.
We strive to ensure that any third-party service provider that we use commits to an appropriate level of security and confidentiality to protect your personal data.
PROTECTION AND RETENTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We take appropriate steps to protect your personal data from accidental or unlawful interference, unauthorised access, misuse, loss, modification or disclosure by implementing physical, administrative and technical safeguards.
We aim to retain your personal data no longer than is necessary for the fulfillment of the purposes of collection unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by the PDPO or other applicable laws.
USE OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA FOR DIRECT MARKETING
We may from time to time send you information about the services available to you by electronic means (email, SMS and/or other media whether now known or available in the future) and/or by direct mail. This information may include:
- news and information about, including without limitation, the published papers and activities offered by us and/or partnering organisations;
- member surveys and opportunities to participate in research;
- professional development offerings and opportunities, and
- other benefits offered by us and/or partnering organisations.
Where you have consented to receiving direct marketing communications from us, your consent will remain current until you advise us otherwise. However, you can, at no cost, opt out or change your communication preferences at any time. Our communications will include an opt out option. If you are our member, you can manage your communication preferences by logging into your user account.
ACCESS TO AND CORRECTION OF YOUR PERSONAL DATA
We will honour your rights under the PDPO to request access to, and correction of, the personal data you have provided to us.
Should you wish to (i) check whether we hold any of your personal data, (ii) access your personal data held by us or (iii) require us to correct any personal data which is inaccurate, please send your request to us by post or email to the address provided under the section “HOW TO CONTACT US” below.
A reasonable fee may be charged to cover the costs of locating and providing the information to you.
LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
We may provide links to websites operated by third parties. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such websites which will be governed by their own privacy policies to which you are advised to refer.
HOW TO CONTACT US
We aim to implement high standards to protect your privacy. However, if you are concerned about the way in which we are processing your personal data or think we may have violated any applicable privacy laws or any other relevant obligation, please contact us at:
- Email address: webmaster@scl.hk
- Telephone number: (852) 2525-2381
- Facsimile: (852) 2524-2171
- Address: 38th Floor, Two Exchange Square, 8 Connaught Place, Hong Kong
UPDATES TO THIS POLICY
We will update this Policy from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, technology, and our operations and practices. All updates will be made available on this webpage and be effective from the date of posting.
Updated 7 June 2022