Strictly confidential: Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang inspects the meticulous procedures taken by the Immigration Department to protect personal data on smart ID cards.

Chief Secretary for Administration Donald Tsang has commended the Immigration Department for its speedy work in implementing smart identity cards.

Mr Tsang visited Immigration Tower to apply for a replacement card today, the first day of the HK Smart Identity Card Replacement Exercise.

Mr Tsang said he was impressed the department had spent only three years from conceiving the idea to implementing the "highly complex, massive project".

Noting the smart card is a major part of the Government's initiatives to introduce electronic services to the public, he commended the department's initiative to use "state-of-the-art technologies to enhance efficiency and productivity".

Mr Tsang saw for himself the operation of the Card Personalisation Centre, where personal data is engraved onto the card face and embedded into the microchip, and learned about the stringent measures taken to protect the security and privacy of personal data embedded in the chip.

He then toured the Key Management Authority, which generates the keys to authenticate the approved applications loaded onto the chip, as well as the central monitoring station for the computer system serving the nine Smart ID Card Centres and the five Registration of Persons Offices.

The first phase of the Smart ID card replacement exercise is now on for the Chief Executive, members of the Executive and Legislative Councils, Principal Officials, Immigration and Police staff, and labour inspectors.

Phase 2, which runs from September 15 to November 15, will apply to ID card holders born in 1968 or 1969. More detailed announcements on card replacements for other age groups will be made shortly.