The Chinese travel agency that accepts Hongkongers’ applications to cross the boundary to the mainland has defended its confidentiality practices after an online leak of the personal details of about 170 Apple Daily employees.

China Travel Service (Hong Kong) came under suspicion as, according to some of the affected staffers, the photos utilized in their applications for the home return permit were not used elsewhere.

Responding to the allegations, the agency on Monday said that it strictly observed the confidentiality of customers’ personal data in processing the applications.

“Our company has strict procedures. The data cannot be casually obtained,” CTS said. “We have been sticking to our principles.”

Between June and August, scores of Apple Daily employees found their personal data exposed online, including the full name in Chinese and English, photo, date of birth and telephone number. The website shut down after the newspaper sent a lawyer’s letter to its operator.

One of the staffers said the photo of him found on the website was used only once, in 2008 when he applied for a home return permit to cover the Beijing Olympics that year. He believed that the leak of his personal data was related to the visa application.

Another staffer noted that the agency failed to clarify, in its response on Monday, why his colleague’s photo and other personal data were leaked.

He questioned if CTS was implying that mainland law enforcement or national security departments were responsible for revealing the information, because they would receive the visa applications for scrutiny.

CTS (Hong Kong) on Monday reported a HK$443 million (US$57.2 million) loss for the first six months after revenue declined 74% to HK$571 million year on year.

The COVID-19 pandemic had taken a bite out of the agency’s businesses in Hong Kong, deputy general manager Tao Xiaobin said. Occupancy rates at some of its hotels were “okay,” he said, but accommodation charges had been considerably slashed to between HK$200 and HK$300 per night to help maintain cash flow.

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