GPDP investigates gaming-related spam

The Personal Data Protection Office (GPDP) said that it has received complaints from tourists and residents who claim that they received gaming-related spam mobile messages when approaching the Border Gate checkpoint. GPDP coordinator Chan Hoi Fan said that her office is currently investigating the issue. She did not rule out the possibility that the messages were sent from non-local companies.
“We are still investigating the cases… In this early stage, we would not rule out that these direct marketing messages were from non-local companies,” she said. The coordinator added that if the senders of the junk messages are proven to be overseas companies, her office will be working with regional organizations to handle the issue.
Ms Chan also revealed that they have previously received reports regarding WhatsApp spam messages. She said that GPDP has not received new complaints since last year after her office contacted the United States service provider through international organizations. “Whats-
App, through some technical measures, has detected and handled these spam message senders. It also adopted measures to block those users who violated the users’ regulations,” she said.
The coordinator made the comments on the sidelines of a seminar on credit card fraud on Monday. She revealed that GPDP has so far opened 149 cases in 2014. The number is 33 percent higher than the same period last year.
As for the incident related to the civil referendum that took place in August, where GPDP was criticized for abusing its power, she claimed that her office has handled the issue according to the law. She also said that she would not comment further as the case was before the courts.
Local activist Jason Chao, who was one of the organizers of the civil referendum, has recently slammed the local privacy watchdog for harming Macau’s reputation. He claimed that GPDP’s
decision to accuse the civil referendum of breaching personal data protection laws has led overseas government officials and scholars to question the rule of law in Macau.