Hong Kong civil servants have been restricted from using unauthorised messaging and cloud storage services such as WhatsApp, WeChat and Google Drive on their work computers due to “severe internet safety risks”, the city’s tech minister has said.
Secretary for Innovation, Technology and Industry Sun Dong on Tuesday said the “strict regulations” concerning civil servants’ desktops were similar to those adopted by authorities in the United States and mainland China, among others.
Authorities earlier said they expected the ban would be fully introduced by this month.
“In the past year, we faced many challenges. Hacking has become more severe,” the minister told a radio programme.
“Desktops used internally in the government cannot have instant messaging services such as WhatsApp or WeChat, as they carry severe internet safety risks.”
Sun said that while he understood the new policy could be inconvenient for civil servants, the measures were part of efforts to enhance cybersecurity.
