Hong Kong ombudsman defends archived reports removal, citing website improvements

Hong Kong’s ombudsman has defended the removal of years’ worth of records from its shelves, saying it may improve its website’s user experience, while the city leader has said the government is not involved in the decision.

Ombudsman Jack Chan Jick-chi and Chief Executive John Lee Ka-chiu were responding to criticism that the move undermined transparency, with some raising doubts over the watchdog’s explanation that keeping records from the past 10 years was difficult.

“I dare not comment as I am not an IT expert. But my colleagues mentioned that saving too much information will slow computers. The most important thing is that we have kept all information, and none of it will be deleted,” Chan said.

The Office of the Ombudsman had earlier removed investigation reports and content it deemed “no longer reflecting the current situation” and only retained records from the past three years.

The watchdog of government authorities said on Tuesday that they had received some complaints from residents who wished to file complaints on the website but found it too cumbersome.

During a website update in 2022, the office removed what it termed obsolete investigation reports and kept ones from the previous 10 years.

However, during a recent update of the website, investigation reports published before April 2023 were removed.