IBTimes.com

The chief executive of Hong Kong Octopus Holdings Ltd. has resigned over its scandal of selling almost two million customer's  private data to third party, and the firm will donate HK$44 million ($5.7 million) in revenue to charity.

Octopus, which is the biggest electronic payment operator in Hong Kong,   named David Tang, head of property projects at its majority shareholder, MTR Corp., as interim chief executive,non-executive Chairman Leong Kwok Kuen said during a news conference on Wednesday.

Ex-executive Prudence Chan will remain with Octopus for six months "to provide assistance with various inquiries,"  according to Leong said.

 The Octopus scandal has escalated with Chan on July 26 admitting that  the company had earned HK$44 million in revenue by selling its clients' personal data to merchants since January 2006.

The government, which launched a formal investigation into the matter last month,  pressed Octopus to deal decisively with "management and corporate governance" issues on Wednesday, hours before the company's board meeting

The Chief Executive is concerned about the company leaking personal customer data and wants the practice to stop, said KC Chan, Secretary for Financial Services and the Treasury Bureau . Secretary Chan noted Octopus should offer a convenient channel for customers to retrieve their personal data or reconfirm their consent to release it, as soon as possible.

The Government has instructed the MTR Corporation's representatives on the Octopus board to co-operate with investigations by the Privacy Commissioner for Personal Data and the Monetary Authority.

Launched in 1997, the Octopus card has been adopted by 95% of people in Hong Kong aged 16 to 65 to travel, shop and dine without the hassle of coins, the company said in its website.

While Octopus cards can be purchased anonymously for cash,  over 2.4 million customers have registered for the widely adopted Octopus Rewards program with their personal information, according to the information posted in its website.

The Octopus Rewards program  is  an "automatic add value service" that lets Octopus cards be automatically recharged through credit cards.

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