Briefs | Telemarketer fined for data privacy breaches

A company named Hoi Sheung Sociedade Unipessoal Limitada has been fined 1.08 million patacas by the personal data watchdog for data privacy breaches that occurred during its telemarketing activities. The Office for Personal Data Protection recorded a total of 26 law infractions which were said to have been committed by Hoi Sheung, including failing to obtain consent from the people targeted by the telemarketing campaign. The Times has learned of a growing number of telemarketing calls from beauty salons in the last few weeks. According to the Office for Personal Data Protection, there are several other cases with similar details still under investigation.

Gov’t spends 1 billion patacas on research over 5 years

In reply to lawmaker Pereira Coutinho’s inquiry, the Public Administration and Civil Service Bureau disclosed that between 2015 and 2019, the government spent nearly MOP1 billion on commissioning private entities and universities – public or private – to conduct research or survey, and to provide consultative services. Transparency has been an issue, however, as only 12% of all commissioned projects were published or announced on government websites. It means that the general public did not have access to the remaining majority of projects. In addition, the extent to which these projects were useful in public administration is still unknown or undisclosed.

Lawmaker calls for criminalization of sham marriages

The crime of sham marriage has been on the rise in previous years, with more cases being disclosed by the law-enforcement authorities. However, the city has no specified law to guard against these kinds of acts. In response to the situation, a functional constituency lawmaker, Chan Hong, is urging the government to specifically criminalize the act by making a law against it. The lawmaker considers that due to the secrecy of the act and the absence of a specific law, it has been difficult for the police to conduct investigations. The administration proposed to specifically criminalize the act in 2018. Since no update has been given since that time, the lawmaker has inquired with the government as to its progress on the legislation.