RAINLILY

Victims of revenge porn in Hong Kong are questioning the authorities' ability to enforce laws protecting personal information. One victim, June, has struggled to remove nude photos of herself posted by her former partner on social media and even on the streets. She contacted the Privacy Commissioner, but was told they couldn't help because the photos didn't directly identify her. Critics argue that the definition of personal data should be expanded to include indirect identification. June eventually got the photos taken down from social media with help from an NGO, but later found them printed in the streets. She reported it to the police, but no arrests have been made. The police say image-based sexual abuse cases are difficult to investigate due to the use of overseas social media platforms and false identities. The number of non-consensual publication of intimate images cases has been increasing, but prosecution figures have been low. Despite the challenges, June is determined to se It's been more than two years since laws to protect people from unauthorized sharing of personal information, including intimate images, were set up here. But victims of such so-called revenge porn are questioning the authorities' ability to enforce them. June, a fictional name we've given to a victim of image-based sexual violence, has been speaking to our reporter, Anne Chan. She said authorities have so far been unable to help her, as she struggles to remove nude photos of herself posted by her former partner on social media, and even on the streets. For me, always, it's a risk. Like, I don't know when and where it will show up again. Also, like, who will see it? Is it my friend? Is it my family? It's really disturbing. It all started when June's partner took intimate photos of her, photos she had trusted to keep to himself. She didn't. When the relationship turned sour, June found those photos shared on multiple Instagram accounts last year. It's a discovery that's haunted her ever since. The first step in her uphill battle to rid the Internet of these images began with contacting the Privacy Commissioner for personal data. She was hoping the newly enacted anti-dossing law, which was introduced in 2021 and made publishing personal data without consent a criminal offense, would quickly resolve the matter. But she said the response from the Privacy Watchdog, which told her that their definition of personal data depended on whether it can directly or indirectly ascertain a person's identity, was frustrating. She said this left her feeling helpless. What they told me is that, okay, on these photos, he didn't put your name on it or your Hong Kong ID on it. So therefore, like, we can't do anything for you. The Watchdog has come under fire for its interpretation of what constitutes personal data. One of the critics is the former Privacy Commissioner, Stephen Wong. He's called for legal reform to amend the definition of personal data from ascertainable to identifiable. Because of the technology, it is quite possible to identify a person without specifying the identity of the victim. So that's why, you know, the global trend is that as long as it's identified, the personal data of a victim need not be ascertained. And therefore, protection should be accorded with the victim. Mr. Wong said the definition change will lower the hurdle for such victims to obtain legal protection. June did eventually manage to get the images taken down from social media, but with no help from the Privacy Office. She had also approached Ring Liddy, an NGO dedicated to protecting people from sexual violence, which works with META to remove non-consensual images from their social media platforms. But her nightmare continued when she discovered those same photos printed in the streets at the beginning of this year. June had reported this to the police, but no arrests have been made so far. In response to RTHK queries about such cases, the boss said that image-based sexual abuse cases are complex, and thus it's extremely difficult to identify and trace offenders. They explained that these cases are unique because of the use of overseas social media platforms and false identities by offenders. Ring Liddy's senior advocacy, J.C. Kang, said June's experience is just the tip of the iceberg. The problems of non-consensual publication of intimate images is getting more and more serious in the past two years. In the cases of Ring Liddy, there were a number of 123 cases in year 2010-C. But then in the year 2022, it is almost double. There are laws, but then rarely do we see cases got prosecuted. And we suspect that it is due to the awareness of the police, because for this kind of sexual abuse, it is quite new, and therefore we think that maybe police do not place very high priority on these kind of sexual abuse cases. Introduced two years ago and at the same time as the anti-doxing law, the anti-foyerism law criminalizes the non-consensual publication of intimate images. It was intended to tackle an alarming rise in such crimes. But prosecution figures have been low so far. Out of the 1207 complaints received and 830 arrests made, only four people have been prosecuted and convicted for the offense of publishing or threatening to publish intimate images without consent. But despite this, June said she won't stop seeking justice. I don't think I can give up because it's almost giving up myself if I am giving up this case. Maybe the law is not standing for my case, but it's morally not right.