Legal Standards Governing Data Protection in Europe and Potential Sources of Legal Transplants in Macau SAR

In the past, both Hong Kong and Macau SARs have been influenced by the legal traditions of European origin. Since the establishment of the two SARs, how normative developments in these two jurisdictions compare with the evolution of specific legal standards in Europe continue to interest academic scholars and legal professionals. This paper aims to analyse the evolution of data protection standards in Europe and examine how its more recent transformation seeks to extend its regulatory reach upon data transfers beyond its borders. The paper will examine the European GDPR closely to determine its unique characteristics, which has the potential to drive the formation of data protection legal standards in other jurisdictions. Being one of the jurisdictions that has been influenced by certain European legal traditions in the past, Macau SAR’s interest in assessing the relevance of European data protection standards as a potential source of legal transplants in developing the domestic regulatory framework is natural. Therefore, the paper will examine how the Macau domestic legal standards governing the protection of personal data have been influenced by European standards. It will also examine the potential of the GDPR standards as a source of influence for the future development of data protection standards in Macau. The paper concludes with an argument that beyond any comparative analysis with other regional experiences like the European GDPR, Macau SAR should consciously seek to increase harmonisation of its data protection regimes viz a viz other international and regional markets like the PRC and Hong Kong SAR to facilitate the aspiration of the regional economic integration in the Greater Bay Area in southern China.