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Privacy and Security

HSBC's Privacy Principles
Our business has been built on trust between our customers and ourselves. To preserve the confidentiality of all information you provide to us, we maintain the following privacy principles:

  1. We only collect personal information that we believe to be relevant and required to understand your financial needs and to conduct our business.
  2. We use your personal information to provide you with better customer services and products.
  3. We may pass your personal information to other HSBC Group companies or agents, as permitted by law.
  4. We will not disclose your personal information to any external organisation unless we have your consent or are required by law or have previously informed you.
  5. We may be required from time to time to disclose your personal information to Governmental or judicial bodies or agencies or our regulators, but we will only do so under proper authority.
  6. We aim to keep your personal information on our records accurate and up-to-date.
  7. We maintain strict security systems designed to prevent unauthorised access to your personal information by anyone, including our staff.
  8. All HSBC Group companies, all our staff and all third parties with permitted access to your information are specifically required to observe our confidentiality obligations.
By maintaining our commitment to these principles, we at HSBC will ensure that we respect the inherent trust that you place in us.

Your Privacy Matters to Us

This section provides specific details of how we treat any personal information you might wish to provide us when you visit this site.

Data Security

  • Security is our top priority. The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited ('the Bank') will strive at all times to ensure that your personal data will be protected against unauthorised or accidental access, processing or erasure. We maintain this commitment to data security by implementing appropriate physical, electronic and managerial measures to safeguard and secure your personal data.
  • The secure area of our website supports the use of 128-bit Secure Socket Layer (SSL) encryption technology - an industry standard for encryption over the Internet to protect data. When you provide sensitive information such as credit card details, it will be automatically converted into codes before being securely dispatched over the Internet.
  • Our web servers are protected behind "firewalls" and our systems are monitored to prevent any unauthorised access. We will not send personal information to you by ordinary email. As the security of ordinary email cannot be guaranteed, you should only send email to us using the secure email facility on our website.

    All practical steps will be taken to ensure that personal data will not be kept longer than necessary and that the Bank will comply with all statutory and regulatory requirements in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region concerning the retention of personally identifiable information.

Security Assurance

  • Both you and HSBC play an important role in protecting against online fraud. You should be careful that your bank account details including your Username and/or Password are not compromised by ensuring that you do not knowingly or accidentally share, provide or facilitate unauthorised use of it. Do not share your Username and/or password or allow access or use of it by others. We endeavor to put in place high standards of security to protect your interests. If, in the unlikely event, unauthorised transactions have been conducted through your account through no fraud, fault or negligence on your part, we will see that you are covered for your direct loss up to the full amount of the unauthorised transaction.
  • You should safeguard your unique Username and Password by keeping it secret and confidential. Never write them down or share these details with anyone. HSBC will never ask you for your Internet Banking Password, in order to ensure that you are the only person who knows this information. When choosing your unique Username and Password for the first time, do not create it using easily identifiable information such as your birthday, telephone number or a recognisable part of your name. If you think your Username and/or password has been disclosed to a third party, is lost or stolen and unauthorised transactions may have been conducted, you are responsible to inform us immediately.

Collection of Personal Information

  • Use of Cookies, Spotlight Tags and Web Beacons etc

    Your visit to this site may be recorded for analysis on the number of visitors to the site and general usage patterns. Some of this information will be gathered through the use of "cookies". Cookies are small bits of information that are automatically stored on a person's web browser in their computer that can be retrieved by this site. Cookies can make the site more useful by storing information about your preferences on particular sites, thus enabling website owners to provide more useful features for their users. The information collected by "cookies" is anonymous aggregated research data, and contain no name or address information or any information that will enable anyone to contact you via telephone, e-mail or any other means. Most browsers are initially set to accept cookies. If you would prefer, you can set your browser to disable cookies or inform you when they are set. However, by disabling them, you may not be able to take full advantage of our website, including HSBC Internet Banking.

    HSBC may also work with third parties (such as Doubleclick, Yahoo!, Nielsen//NetRatings and WebTrends) to research certain usage and activities on parts of our web site on our behalf. Doubleclick, Yahoo!, Nielsen//NetRatings and WebTrends use technologies such as spotlight monitoring, web beacons and "cookies" etc to conduct this research. The information collected through technologies such as cookies, spotlight tags and web beacons etc are used to find out more about our users, including user demographics and behaviour and usage patterns, for more accurate reporting and to improve the effectiveness of our marketing. Information recorded through the use of these devices are aggregated and then shared with us. No personally identifiable information about you is collected or shared by Doubleclick, Yahoo!, Nielsen//NetRatings and WebTrends with HSBC as a result of this research. Should you wish to disable the cookies associated with these technologies such as spotlight tags and/or web beacons etc, you may do so by changing the setting on your browser. However, you may not be able to enter certain part(s) of our website, including HSBC Internet Banking.

    To find out more about the use of cookies and the information-gathering practices and opt-out procedures of Doubleclick, Yahoo!, Nielsen//NetRatings and WebTrends, please visit Doubleclick's website at www.doubleclick.net and/or Yahoo!'s website at http://privacy.yahoo.com/privacy/us/pixels/details.html and/or Nielsen//NetRatings website at http://www.netratings.com/privacy.jsp?section=leg_scs and /or WebTrends' website at http://ondemand.webtrends.com/privacypolicy.asp#PSFV

  • Marketing Promotions

    Occasionally we may collect personal information from visitors to this site and those individuals that participate in a contest or promotion (online or over the telephone,or at one of our branches). Such information is only collected from individuals who voluntarily provide us with their personal information. We may use this information to advise them of products, services and other marketing materials, which we think, may be of interest to them. We may also invite visitors to this site to participate in market research and surveys and other similar activities.

    You can choose to receive marketing and other promotional materials by email. If you do receive email or promotional direct mailings, you will always have an opportunity to opt-out.

    If at any time you would like us to cease sending you direct mailings, please contact our representatives by calling (852) 2233 3322 for HSBC Premier customers, (852) 2748 8333 for HSBC Advance customers or (852) 2233 3000 for other customers. We will then, at no cost to you, act on your request within 30 days and ensure that you are not included in future direct marketing promotions.

    If we do ask you to provide personal information, we will always specify the purpose for which such personal information is collected and ensure that it is only used for the purpose specified at the time of collection.

Notice to Customers Relating to the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (the 'Ordinance')

This Statement is made by The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited ('the Bank') in accordance with the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region ('the Ordinance'). The Statement is intended to notify you why personal data is collected, how it will be used and to whom data access requests are to be addressed.

  1. From time to time, it is necessary for customers to supply the Bank with data in connection with the opening or continuation of accounts and the establishment or continuation of banking facilities or provision of banking services or compliance with any laws or guidelines issued by regulatory or other authorities.
  2. Failure to supply such data may result in the Bank being unable to open or continue accounts or establish or continue banking facilities or provide banking services or comply with any laws or guidelines issued by regulatory or other authorities.
  3. It is also the case that data are collected from customers in the ordinary course of the continuation of the banking relationship, for example, when customers write cheques, deposit money or apply for credit. This includes information obtained from credit reference agencies.
  4. The purposes for which data relating to a customer may be used are as follows:
    1. the daily operation of the services and credit facilities provided to customers;
    2. conducting credit checks (including without limitation upon an application for consumer credit (including mortgage loans) and upon periodic or special reviews of the credit which normally will take place one or more times each year);
    3. creating and maintaining the Bank's credit and risk related models;
    4. assisting other financial institutions to conduct credit checks and collect debts;
    5. ensuring ongoing credit worthiness of customers;
    6. designing financial services or related products for customers' use;
    7. marketing the following services and products (in respect of which the Bank may or may not be remunerated):
      1. financial, insurance, credit card, banking and related services and products;
      2. reward, loyalty or privileges programmes and related services and products; and
      3. services and products offered by the Bank's co-branding partners (the names of such co-branding partners will be provided during the application of the relevant services and products, as the case may be); and
      these services or products may be provided and/or marketed by:
      1. the Bank and the Bank's group companies;
      2. third party financial institutions, insurers, credit card companies, securities and investment services providers;
      3. third party reward, loyalty or privileges programme providers; and
      4. co-branding partners of the Bank and the Bank's group companies;
    8. determining the amount of indebtedness owed to or by customers;
    9. collection of amounts outstanding from customers and those providing security for customers' obligations;
    10. meeting the requirements to make disclosure under the requirements of any law binding on the Bank or any of its branches or under and for the purposes of any guidelines issued by regulatory or other authorities with which the Bank or any of its branches are expected to comply;
    11. enabling an actual or proposed assignee of the Bank, or participant or sub-participant of the Bank's rights in respect of the customer to evaluate the transaction intended to be the subject of the assignment, participation or sub-participation; and
    12. purposes relating thereto.
  5. Data held by the Bank relating to a customer will be kept confidential but the Bank may provide such information to the following parties (whether within or outside the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region) for the purposes set out in paragraph (d):
    1. any agent, contractor or third party service provider who provides administrative, telecommunications, computer, payment or securities clearing or other services to the Bank in connection with the operation of its business;
    2. any other person under a duty of confidentiality to the Bank including a group company of the Bank which has undertaken to keep such information confidential;
    3. the drawee bank providing a copy of a paid cheque (which may contain information about the payee) to the drawer;
    4. a person making any payment into the customer's account (by providing a copy of a deposit confirmation slip which may contain the name of the customer);
    5. credit reference agencies, and, in the event of default, to debt collection agencies;
    6. any person to whom the Bank is under an obligation to make disclosure under the requirements of any law binding on the Bank or any of its branches or under and for the purposes of any guidelines issued by regulatory or other authorities with which the Bank or any of its branches are expected to comply;
    7. any actual or proposed assignee of the Bank or participant or sub-participant or transferee of the Bank's rights in respect of the customer; and
      1. the Bank's group companies;
      2. third party financial institutions, insurers, credit card companies, securities and investment services providers;
      3. third party reward, loyalty and privileges programme providers;
      4. co-branding partners of the Bank and the Bank's group companies (the names of such co-branding partners will be provided during the application of the relevant services and products, as the case may be); and
      5. external service providers (including but not limited to mailing houses, telecommunication companies, telemarketing and direct sales agents, call centres, data processing companies and information technology companies) that the Bank engages for the purposes set out in paragraph (d)(vii).
        6.  
        Such information may be transferred to a place outside Hong Kong.
       
    In connection with (v) above,
    1. of all the data which may be collected or held by the Bank from time to time in connection with mortgages, the following data relating to the customer (including any updated data of any of the following data) will be provided by the Bank to the credit reference agency:
      1. full name;
      2. capacity in respect of each mortgage (as borrower, mortgagor or guarantor);
      3. Hong Kong Identity Card Number or travel document number or certificate of incorporation;
      4. date of birth or date of incorporation;
      5. correspondence address;
      6. mortgage account number in respect of each mortgage;
      7. type of the facility in respect of each mortgage;
      8. mortgage account status in respect of each mortgage (e.g. active, closed, write-off); and
      9. if any, mortgage account closed date in respect of each mortgage.

      2. The credit reference agency will use the above data supplied by the Bank for the purposes of compiling a count of the number of mortgages from time to time held by the customer (as borrower, mortgagor or guarantor respectively, whether in sole name or joint names with others) for sharing in the consumer credit database of the credit reference agency by credit providers; and

    2. before the right referred to in (f) (v) below may be exercised, in the event of any default in payment where the amount in default is not fully repaid before the expiry of 60 days as measured by the Bank from the date such default occurred, the customer is liable to have his account repayment data retained by the credit reference agency at least until the expiry of five years from the date of final settlement of the amount in default . Account repayment data include amount last due, amount of payment made during the last reporting period, remaining available credit or outstanding balance and default data (being amount past due and number of days past due, date of settlement of amount past due, and date of final settlement of amount in material default (if any)).
  6. Under and in accordance with the terms of the Ordinance and the Code of Practice on Consumer Credit Data approved and issued under the Ordinance, any individual has the right:
    1. to check whether the Bank holds data about him and of access to such data;
    2. to require the Bank to correct any data relating to him which is inaccurate;
    3. to ascertain the Bank's policies and practices in relation to data and to be informed of the kind of personal data held by the Bank;
    4. in relation to consumer credit, to request to be informed which items of data are routinely disclosed to credit reference agencies or debt collection agencies, and be provided with further information to enable the making of an access and correction request to the relevant credit reference agency or debt collection agency; and
    5. upon satisfactory termination of the credit by full repayment and on condition that there has been, within five years immediately before such termination, no material default under the credit as determined by the Bank, to instruct the Bank to make a request to the relevant credit reference agency to delete from its database any account data relating to the terminated credit.
  7. In accordance with the terms of the Ordinance, the Bank has the right to charge a reasonable fee for the processing of any data access request.
  8. The person to whom requests for access to data or correction of data or for information regarding policies and practices and kinds of data held are to be addressed as follows:
     
    The Data Protection Officer
    The Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation Limited
    PO Box 72677
    Kowloon Central Post Office
    Hong Kong
    Facsimile: 2288 5922
    E-mail: dfv.enquiry@hsbc.com.hk
     
  9. The Bank may have obtained a credit report on the customer from a credit reference agency in considering any application for credit. In the event the customer wishes to access the credit report, the Bank will advise the contact details of the relevant credit reference agency.
  10. Nothing in this Notice shall limit the rights of customers under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.

Note: In case of discrepancies between the English and Chinese versions, the English version shall apply and prevail.

IMPORTANT: By accessing this web site and any of its pages you are agreeing to the terms set out above. Thank you for choosing HSBC.

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