We hereby provides information on the obligations and policies of Hong Kong Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences Ltd. (HKIMLS), Hong Kong Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences Ltd. Quality Assurance Programme (HKIMLSQAP), and all other Committees (Comm), Subcommittees (Subcomm) under the Hong Kong SAR Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance 1995 - Cap. 486 (the "Ordinance").

HKIMLS, HKIMLSQAP and all Comm & Subcomm shall fully comply with the obligations and requirements of the Ordinance. Although all staff members are volunteers, they shall, at all times, respect the confidentiality of and keep safe any and all personal data collected and/or stored and/or transmitted and/or used for, or on behalf of, the HKIMLS, HKIMLSQAP and all Comm & Subcomm.

All collection and/or storage and/or transmission and/or usage of personal data shall be done in accordance with the obligations and requirements of the Ordinance.

Where an individual legitimately requests access to and/or correction of personal data relating to the individual, held by us, then we shall provide and/or correct that data in accordance with the times and manner stipulated within the Ordinance.

For the purpose of membership recording and administration, you may be requested to provide personal data such as the following:

1. Your name, gender, age, and date of birth;
2. Office address, home address, and correspondence address;
3. Qualification and working experience;
4. MLT Board registration information.
5. In some instances, you may also be requested to provide certain data that may be used to verify the fulfilment of membership requirement.

Our web server may also collect data relating to your online session, the use of which is to provide aggregated, anonymous, statistical information on the server's usage so that we may better meet the demands and expectations of visitors to our sites.

Certain web sites may place a "cookie" on your machine in order to provide personalized services and/or maintain your identity across multiple pages within a single session.

Where possible, we will validate data provided using generally accepted practices and guidelines.

Although we do not currently provide online access to and correction of personal data held, we fully comply with the "Rights of Access and Correction" obligations of the Ordinance. Please refer to the section titled "Personal Data Access and Correction" below for details on how you can obtain and correct any personal data relating to you that we may hold.

We will destroy any personal data it may hold in accordance with our internal retention policy. This policy is that:

All personal data held will be kept confidential but we may, where such disclosure is necessary to satisfy the purpose, or a directly related purpose, for which the data was collected provide such information to the following parties:

1. any Executive Council, HKIMLSQAP and all Comm & Subcomm;
2. any other government authority or professional body who has the rights or needs to verify the membership or the participation of quality assurance programme and is approved by the Executive Council or HKIMLSQAP.

Any access is governed by the Ordinance.

Physical records containing personal data are securely stored in locked containers when not in use.

Computer data are stored on computer systems and storage media located within restricted areas.

Access to records and data without appropriate management authorization are strictly prohibited. Authorizations are granted only on a "need to know" basis that is commensurate with an individual's responsibilities.

Under the terms of the Ordinance, individuals have the right to:

1. check whether HKIMLS, HKIMLSQAP and/or the Comm & Subcomm hold any personal data relating to them and, if so, obtain copies of such data;
2. require HKIMLS, HKIMLSQAP and/or the Comm & Subcomm to correct any personal data relating to them which is inaccurate; and
3. ascertain HKIMLS, HKIMLSQAP and/or the Comm & Subcomm's policies and practices in relation to personal data which are those policies and practices set out in their entirety herein.

An individual may exercise his or her right of access by:

1. Appeal to the Executive Council in person, along with appropriate identification.
2. The Executive Council will, upon satisfying itself of the authenticity and validity of the access request, make every endeavour to comply with and respond to the request within the period set by the Ordinance.

An individual may exercise his or her right of correction by:

1. Writing to the Executive Committee, specifying the data which they believe to be incorrect, the reason they believe it is incorrect, and the applicable corrections; and
2. Providing "proof of identity" verifying that the individual making the request is authorised to request such corrections.
3. The Executive Council will, upon satisfying itself of the authenticity and validity of the correction request, make every endeavour to comply with and respond to the request within the period set by the Ordinance.

All enquiries should be in writing to:

Hong Kong Institute of Medical Laboratory Sciences Ltd., GPO Box 2722, Hong Kong, or c/o The Federation of Medical Societies of Hong Kong, 4/F., 15 Hennessy Road, Wanchai, Hong Kong.