Hong Kong’s agreement with Chinese sales agency Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical Group Co Ltd to buy BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines did not include stipulations allowing Fosun or any third parties to obtain personal data, according to the territory’s government. Reuters reported last week that Fosun had sent over a template for the vaccine in talks with two Taiwanese tech businesses, based on a deal struck with Chinese-run Hong Kong, in which Fosun wanted access to Taiwanese medical records.
According to the sources, those stipulations were not included in the final deal.
Fosun represents BioNTech SE in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan.
Hong Kong’s government said in a statement late Tuesday that no conditions in its deal with Fosun “empower or enable Fosun or any other party to collect, access, or gain or utilize the personal information of vaccinated individuals via any means.”
Personal data privacy has long been a priority for Hong Kong’s government, and there are clear and strict norms and processes for the collecting and use of personal data in the city’s immunization program, it noted.
Requests for comment on the clauses in the template submitted to Taiwan have gone unanswered by Fosun.
On Sunday, Fosun signed a contract for 10 million vaccination doses with Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co Ltd (TSMC), Taiwan contract electronics maker Foxconn, and Terry Gou’s charity.
(Maria Zaharia contributed reporting; Ben Blanchard wrote the story; Simon Cameron-Moore edited it.)
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