Two secondary schools whose students were involved in the propaganda video uploaded by pro-government group Federation of Hong Kong Guangxi Community Organizations (FHKGCO) have issued statements about the scandal.
The FHKGCO put up a video of students, some in their school uniforms, talking about the benefits of electoral reform as part of an application go to a summer exchange trip to the US.
The leader of the organisation, Tang Ching-ho, says they explained to the students that the video would be put online.
But Holy Trinity College and Maryknoll Father's School both say that their students did not consent to having their remarks on the government's political reform proposal put online.
Maryknoll Fathers' School called it a serious breach of privacy, and that the student and their family are under intense pressure. In fact, the parents of their student in the video have complained to the Office of the Privacy Commissioner, and are considering legal action against the FHKGCO.
Holy Trinity College principal Jane Or Ho Yim-ching says the federation did not tell students they would post the video online. She adds that after the interview, her student asked the federation not to upload the video without consent, because the student was in school uniform and wanted to make sure that her personal opinion wouldn't be misrepresented as the school's opinion.
The video has already been taken down, but not before causing some serious backlash online. Even before the question of permission came up, many people were criticising the exchange trip organiser - the FHKGCO - for using students to do promote unpopular government policies.