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Case Studies
A Long Shot: Facing Temptation
Tony was a Customer Services Officer of a telephone company. He tried his best in whatever he was assigned to do. Very soon, he made a name for himself as a hardworking and responsible young officer. Soon he got to know a lot of people working in his section. One of them was Curtis.
Curtis was a part-time phone salesman working with Tony in the same team. He had contacts everywhere and could gain entry to many exclusive clubs. He treated Tony to dinners in the evenings, and sometimes even golf trips across the border on Sundays.
Tony picked up golf eagerly. He loved the greens and enjoyed the leisurely pace of the sport. What was more was the pride of being among the well-to-dos in town. He wished he had his own golf-membership but he knew it was almost impossible, given his present income and connections.
Curtis could guess what was on Tony's mind and told him, “If you release the personal information of your clients to me, I can fix a membership for you. You have easy access to the computer records and this should not be a problem.”
Tony knew very well that Curtis would misuse these clients’ personal information for illegal gains. He did not wish to be part of any scam. But he could not resist the temptation of the golf membership. It would be decades before he could secure one on his own merits and earnings. Perhaps it would not be difficult to find another colleague who also had access to the data to be the scapegoat. Dinner and entertainment by Curtis also flashed across his mind. Tony began to waver. Should he say ‘yes’ to Curtis?
Case Analysis
Under Section 9(1) of the Prevention of Bribery Ordinance, it would be an offence if Tony (an employee), without the approval of his employer (the telephone company), accepted an advantage from Curtis for leaking out clients’ personal data.
According to Section 2 of the POBO, advantage means any gift, loan, fee, reward or commission, employment, contract, service, favour, payment, release or discharge of loan or liability, etc. Therefore, a golf club membership offered by Curtis can be regarded as an advantage.
Curtis might also violate Section 9(2) of POBO for offering bribes for the same purpose.
Furthermore, Tony and his company might breach the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance for disclosure of personal data of his clients with an intent to obtain gain or cause loss to the company’s clients or failed to protect the personal data of their clients.