Macao’s EU-Influenced Personal Data Protection Act

Macao’s Personal Data Protection Act (2006) is the most recent data protection law in Asia, and potentially one of the strongest. The Act is a very similar to Portugal’s legislation in most respects (though also said to be influenced by Hong Kong’s Ordinance). As a result it is closer to the EU privacy Directive of 1995 than any other data protection legislation in Asia. Macao’s position as a region of the PRC makes this doubly interesting. This article examines the history of the Act, the Office for Personal Data Protection (OPDP), the role of data protection principles and codes, the variety of enforcement measures, transfers outside Macao, and the notification/registration system