[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-510722-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-510722-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","guidance-on-direct-marketing-part-1-introduction","Guidance on Direct Marketing - Part 1 - Introduction","","Guidance Note on Direct Marketing outlines how direct marketing in Hong Kong is regulated under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, focusing on compliance with the requirements introduced by Part VI A. It explains what qualifies as “direct marketing” and “direct marketing means,” distinguishing permitted outreach to named individuals from excluded activities such as unsolicited electronic messages or non-personal door-to-door promotion. It also clarifies considerations when marketing targets corporate owners or staff, including how enforcement depends on collection circumstances, product/service purpose, and targeting.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/healthcare/","Healthcare",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/guidance-on-direct-marketing-part-1-introduction/510722/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/guidance-on-direct-marketing-part-1-introduction/510722.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Mary Man","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-10","2026-10-05",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",5,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the main purpose of this guidance on direct marketing?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It provides practical guidance to help data users understand their obligations and good practice for complying with new direct marketing regulatory requirements under Part VI A of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What does the Ordinance define as “direct marketing”?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It covers offering or advertising the availability of goods, facilities, or services, and soliciting donations or contributions, through direct marketing means.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"Does the guidance treat all marketing messages as direct marketing?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"No. Unsolicited business electronic messages that are not addressed to specific persons by name, and random person-to-person calls to randomly generated numbers, are not considered direct marketing under the Ordinance.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},510722,1791653011,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":106,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},7,40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":106,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":98,"preview_page_count":4},7421720224475,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Guidance Note  \ne of the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data, Hong Kong  \n Guidance on Direct Marketing  \nPART 1 : Introduction  \n\n| Purpose of guidance\u003Cbr>1.1 Direct marketing is a common business practice in Hong Kong. It often involves collection and use of personal data by an organization for direct marketing itself and in some cases, the provision of such data by the organization to another person for use in direct marketing. In the process, compliance with the requirements under the Personal Data ( Privacy) Ordinance (the“Ordinance”) is essential. This document is issued by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data (the “Commissioner”) to provide practical guidance on data users’ compliance with the new regulatory requirements for direct marketing under the new Part VI A of the Ordinance1. It helps data users to fully understand their obligations as well as to promote good practice . Data users should also make reference to other laws , regulations , guidelines and codes of practice that are relevant for direct marketing purposes insofar as they are not inconsistent with the requirements under the Ordinance .\u003Cbr>1.2 This Guidance shall take effect on the same date as the date of commencement\u003Cbr>of Pa rt VI A of the O rd i na nce (the“commencement date”) . It will supersede an d r e p l a c e t h e Co m m i s s i o ne r’ s“Guidance on the Collection and Use of Personal Data in Direct Marketing” issued in November 2012. For the avoidance of doubt, until Part VI A of the Ordinance | t a k e s e ff e c t , th e C o m m i ss i o n e r ’ s“Guidance on the Collection and Use of Personal Data in Direct Marketing”remains fully valid.\u003Cbr>What is “direct marketing”?\u003Cbr>1.3 The Ordinance does not regulate all types of direct marketing activities . It defines“direct marketing” as:\u003Cbr>(a) the offering , or ad ver tising of the availability, of goods, facilities or services; or\u003Cbr>(b) th e s o licitati o n o f do n a ti on s o r contributions for charitable, cultural, philanthropic, recreational, political or other purposes,\u003Cbr>through direct marketing means2.\u003Cbr>“Direct marketing means” is further defined to mean:\u003Cbr>(a) sending information or goods, addressed to specific persons by name, by mail, fax, electronic mail or other means of communication; or\u003Cbr>(b) making telephone calls to specific persons.\u003Cbr>1.4 Hence , “direct marketing” under the Ordinance does not include unsolicited business electronic messages sent tote le p ho nes , fax mac h i nes o r e ma i l addresses without addressing to specific persons by name and person-to-person ca lls being made to phone numbers randomly generated3. |\n| --- | --- |\n\n1 The new Part VI A under the Ordinance was introduced by the Personal Data ( Privacy) (Amendment) Ordinance 2012. It will take effect on 1 April 2013.  \n2 Section 35A (1)  \n3 Please refer to the Unsolicited Electronic Messages Ordinance (Cap. 593, Laws of Hong Kong) enforced by the Office of the Communications Authority.  \nGuidance on Direct Marketing 1 April 2023  \nExamples:  \n✓ A marketing SMS sent to the mobile phone number of a named individual is considered a form of direct marketing.  \n✓ A telecommunications service provider approaching its existing customers by telephone to offer upgrade services is direct marketing.  \n✗ D i rect mai l se nt to a n address o r the “occupant” of an address is not considered direct marketing as it is not addressed to specific persons by name .  \n✗ A salesperson knocking on the door of a potential custome r to promote his products is not considered direct marketing.  \n✗ A c u s t o m e r s erv i c e man a g e r ’ sintrod uctio n of goods/se rv ices to a customer face-to-face is not considered direct marketing (but the subsequent use of the customer’s personal data for sending him promotional materials is considered direct marketing) .  \n✗ A marketing call to the un ident ified owner of a particular telephone number isnot direct marketing.  \nDirect marketing to a corporation’s owner or staff ","cbCaisFplzd2kqsH","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaisFplzd2kqsH","pdf",1494366,24,"English","# Purpose of guidance\n## What is “direct marketing”?\n## Direct marketing to a corporation’s owner or staff","[{\"question\":\"What is the main purpose of this guidance on direct marketing?\",\"answer\":\"It provides practical guidance to help data users understand their obligations and good practice for complying with new direct marketing regulatory requirements under Part VI A of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance.\"},{\"question\":\"What does the Ordinance define as “direct marketing”?\",\"answer\":\"It covers offering or advertising the availability of goods, facilities, or services, and soliciting donations or contributions, through direct marketing means.\"},{\"question\":\"Does the guidance treat all marketing messages as direct marketing?\",\"answer\":\"No. Unsolicited business electronic messages that are not addressed to specific persons by name, and random person-to-person calls to randomly generated numbers, are not considered direct marketing under the Ordinance.\"}]","Guidance on Direct Marketing - Part 1 - Introduction | PDF",1791244444]