Privacy Policy Statement

The Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (“the Government”) is concerned to ensure that all personal data submitted through and stored in the Trade Single Window System (TSW System) is handled in accordance with the relevant provisions of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance (PD(P)O).

For different purposes and at different times users may be invited to provide personal data to the Government through the TSW System on a voluntary basis. Personal data will be collected upon registration, subscription, application of licence/permit/permission, submission of declaration with the user’s consent. The data collected may include name, contact number(s), address, email address, identity document number, scanned image of identity document, company name, and company address, or other information that may be provided in relation to the TSW System (collectively referred to as “the Data”).

The personal data provided by any user during the registration process (as well as subsequent updates) and the personal data, if any, to be submitted by the user during the subscription and licence/permit application process through the TSW System will be used by the Office of Single Window Operation (OSWO) and participating government agencies (PGAs) of the Government for the following purposes:

1. processing / recording of user registration;
2. performing account link up and single sign-on functions with relevant PGAs’ systems;
3. processing subscription/applications/submissions in relation to the trade documents supported by the TSW System;
4. facilitating import and export cargo clearance;
5. exercising import and export controls over the cargo; and/or
6. facilitating communication between the Registered User and any representative of the relevant departments of the Government.

The Government will record visits to this website and the TSW System by using cookies without collecting any personal identifiable information of users.

A cookie is a small amount of data created in a computer when a person visits a website on the computer. It often includes an anonymous unique identifier. A cookie can be used to identify a computer. It, however, is not used to collect any personal information. In other words, it does not have the function of identifying an individual user of the website.

Cookies are used by the Government to collect statistics about the number of visits of users to the TSW System and the users’ preference of websites and online services offered on the TSW System. Such general statistics are collected for the compilation of statistical reports and the diagnosis of problems with or concerning computer systems to help the Government improve the website and the TSW System.

The Data provided by a user to the TSW System may be disclosed to PGAs, other Government departments, and overseas enforcement agencies for any of the purposes mentioned above; or where such disclosure is authorised or required by law or court order. Apart from this, the Data shall only be disclosed to parties which you have given consent to such disclosure or which such disclosure is allowed under the PD(P)O.

The Government will take appropriate steps to protect the Data the TSW System hold against loss, unauthorised access, use, modification or disclosure.

The Data will not be kept longer than is necessary. Different retention periods are applied to various kinds of personal data collected and held by the Government in accordance with the policies on personal data protection related to different trade document(s) under relevant PGAs.

TSW System uses SSL protocol to encrypt data during network transmission to protect your personal data. All personal data you provided to the Government via TSW System is secured, and access to it is restricted to authorised personnel only.

This Privacy Policy has been translated into Chinese. If there is any inconsistency or ambiguity between the English version and the Chinese version, the English version shall prevail.