Important Notes

Data Privacy and Security

1. The University respects the personal data privacy of all individuals and pledges to comply with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance of Hong Kong.
    
2. Faculty and staff members involved in activities related to recruitment and/or admission should comply with the following guidelines:
   
   Collection Purpose and Means
   1. Personal data collected should be used only for admissions to postgraduate programs at HKUST or for other purposes for which prescribed consent was given.
   2. To ensure that applicants are well informed as to the purpose of data collection and as to the parties to whom the data may be transferred, the University has established a Personal Information Collection Statement (PICS) (https://fytgs.hkust.edu.hk/pics).  This Statement, which is already incorporated into the PG Online Admission System (PG OAS), comprehensively describes HKUST’s policy regarding personal data collection.
       
   Accuracy and Retention
   3. Schools, Departments, and Offices should take similar measures upon collection of personal data for activities related to admission. Data collected should be necessary but not excessive.
   4. Practicable steps should be taken to ensure the accuracy of personal data held by the University, Schools, Departments, and Offices.
       
   Use of Data
   5. Applicants have the right to request access to and to correct their personal information held by the University in relation to the application for postgraduate admissions. Such requests should be sent to FYTGS via the enquiry form at https://fytgs.hkust.edu.hk/enquiry. A request form for access to data submitted for postgraduate admission is also available for applicants’ use.
       
   Security
   6. Only HKUST faculty and staff involved in PG admissions authorized by the Head of Department or his/her designate should have access to applicant data; and their access should be limited to the data relevant to their work. Request for access to the PG OAS can be sent to the Manager of FYTGS via enquiry form at pgadmit@ust.hk.
   7. All practicable steps should be taken to safeguard personal data against unauthorized or accidental access, processing, erasure, loss or use.
   8. All admission-related documents and files containing personal data, both in electronic and paper format, should be properly purged or disposed of at the end of the admission cycle.
       
   Openness
   9. Any incidents or suspected incidents of data breach should be reported immediately to the Head of Department who should in turn report the incident to the University’s Data Privacy Officer (VPABO).
       
   Data Access and Correction
   10. Where appropriate, please refer applicants to the Personal Information Collection Statement (PICS) at https://fytgs.hkust.edu.hk/pics or Data Privacy Policy Statement of the University at https://hkust.edu.hk/privacy-policy.
        
3. Schools, Departments, and Offices wishing to reach out to their applicants or prospective students via direct marketing should note the following:
   1. Upon data collection, the intended use of data and the parties to whom that data may be transferred must be clearly stated.
   2. Marketing materials should be sent only to persons who have given their explicit consent, or have indicated “no objection”, to receiving such materials. These persons should be notified of their right to opt-out at any time without charge. Upon receiving opt-out requests, use of the data must cease.
       

Prepared by HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School
Feb 2023