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HK ID numbers - what's the big deal?

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  1. #11

    Join Date
    Aug 2006
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    11,884
    Quote Originally Posted by shri:
    I don't stress about it ....

    Just saying it is one more social engineering vector.
    Oh, wasn't implying that you were. I've run into people IRL who do seem to get worked up about it though, which has confused me.

  2. #12

    Join Date
    Apr 2008
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    2,879
    Original Post Deleted
    I think if you have NOW TV or something it's already there. In the early 2000s on ADSL I once tried using my Netvigator login at another friends place in another part of town, worked fine. If I remember correctly, he was actually not a Netvigator customer but Pacific Supernet (was an ISP option back then).

    Also, these days you don't need a cable to access the internet. Wifi signal from a PCCW phone booth does the trick, or in a shopping mall, MTR station etc...

    Not that I tried that, I pay a few HK$ per month to get the Wifi in addition to fiber at home.

    But my point is, using HKID as password never made sense to me. Same for business registration number...
    Last edited by 100LL; 15-06-2016 at 06:58 PM. Reason: NOW TV not WOW TV

  3. #13

    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Hong Kong
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    12,323

    My Netvigator password is not my ID card number. I do need to quote it when I ring them us to verify me as a customer, but you can't get onto my internet with it.


  4. #14

    Join Date
    Feb 2011
    Location
    Hong Kong
    Posts
    6,317

    You know the Chinese get sensitive about their ID card. Just too many people, too many issues. Don't single yourself out to fraud.

    I think having the correct details is more important than checking that your ID card is real. Banks and sales people get way too excited when the transaction is going smoothly and everything matches that they are easy to slip on the most basic part, verifying your ID card is real.

    I've tried going into banks with my ATM card and withdrawing money from the counter without my HKID card. I have sadly been successful at taking money out of my account without showing proof of identity. So if someone has your ATM card and signature, I'm sure money can end up disappearing.


  5. #15

    Join Date
    Oct 2015
    Posts
    1,262
    Must admit, having lived in both Denmark and Sweden I am used to having an ID card and ID number. In both of those countries you are asked for your personnummer all the time. In Denmark the card doesn't have your photo but it does have your address and you are legally required to register with the Kommun that you reside in, you get a new card when you move. I have 2, one for Roskilde Kommune and 1 for Hvalso. In Sweden it has your photo also and mine was actually issued by Nordea (The bank!). In Sweden, if you know somebody's phone number, you can find their personnummer online as well as their birth dates, and a lot of other information. The HKID card seems tame in comparison to me!!

  6. #16

  7. #17

    Join Date
    Jan 2010
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    Every company directors name and complete ID card are in the public domain.

    Lord Dashwood likes this.

  8. #18

    Join Date
    Aug 2009
    Posts
    2,711
    Quote Originally Posted by mrgoodkat:
    Every company directors name and complete ID card are in the public domain.
    not much longer. you need to pay and there are things under way to make the ID numbers secret (another brilliant webb article on this - can't be bothered to look it up)