Autonomous Vehicles to Promote Advanced Data Use across the GBA

This article was written by Peter Bullock and Sunny Wong.

Data lawyers have been staring at the seemingly impenetrable difficulties of squaring the circle of cross border data transfers between Hong Kong SAR and China (and back again) for many years now. The current approaches to data protection in the two systems of law, in relation to cross-border transfers are different.  Section 33 of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance has not been brought into effect, despite enactment nearly 25 years ago. Many of the Fintech and eHealth technologies that depend upon the transmission of personal data across the Greater Bay Area ("GBA") borders face regulatory challenges.

These problems should be markedly less pronounced, however, in the field of autonomous vehicles. In this alert, we discuss how autonomous vehicles promote advanced data use across the GBA.