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The Government today (November 3) awarded a contract to E-Mice Solutions (HK) Limited to operate the e-Cert services for four years beginning from April 1, 2007.
The company will be responsible for the full operating cost in providing the e-Cert services and is entitled to receive subscription and renewal fees from e-Cert subscribers. The level of e-Cert services provided to the public, including the service outlets and service hours, will be unaffected after the contractor takes up the service in April, 2007. The e-Cert fees will also remain unchanged.
At present, the Hong Kong Post Certification Authority has issued about 1.54 million personal and organisational e-Certs, including 1.26 million free personal e-Certs embedded in smart ID cards.
A spokesman for the Office of the Government Chief Information Officer said that the objective of outsourcing the e-Cert operation was to generate a self-financing public certification authority (CA) operation and to further drive the utilisation of e-Cert.
The company proposed a number of value-added services in its tender proposal as part of its business plan for generating a self-financing public CA operation.
"While the Government welcomes the contractor's proposed value-added services, they are subject to separate discussions and agreement to ensure that all such services riding on the e-Cert comply with the Electronic Transactions Ordinance, the Code of Practice for Recognised Certification Authorities, government security rules and regulations, as well as privacy requirements under the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance, in addition to the terms and conditions of the contract.
"Any value-added services that may be provided by the contractor will be done under its own brand name and distinct from the e-Cert operation. Consent of the e-Cert holders will also need to be sought on whether they wish to receive information about these services," the spokesman said.
The spokesman noted that with the award of the contract, the Government remained the owner of the e-Cert scheme and data, and was responsible for monitoring the contractor's performance during the contract period.
"In preparing the tender, the Government has conducted a Privacy Impact Assessment and consulted the Privacy Commissioner to ensure that adequate measures are included in the contract conditions to protect the personal data privacy of e-Cert holders.
"It is clearly stated in the contract that all e-Cert data is owned by the Government and the contractor will only be allowed to use the personal data of e-Cert holders in performing its obligations under the contract for the provision of e-Cert services," the spokesman stressed.
After conducting a review on the e-Cert scheme in mid-2005, the Government has come to the view that the current mode of operation of the public CA, which required substantial funding support from the Government and Hongkong Post's cross-subsidisation from its postal services, was not sustainable in the longer term.
To explore possible synergy with the private sector, an open tender was issued in June this year to invite proposals from the private sector to run the e-Cert services and come up with new value-added services/businesses to generate a self-financing public CA operation, and to further drive the utilisation of e-Cert.
Ends/Friday, November 3, 2006
Issued at HKT 16:30
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