Hong Kong university student arrested for alleged doxxing after whistleblowing on academic integrity scandal

2026-02-06 - 09:28

A Hong Kong university student who triggered a high-profile academic integrity scandal after casting doubt on the origins of a secondary student’s award-winning app has been arrested on suspicion of doxxing. The Hong Kong Police Force headquarters in Wan Chai. Photo: Candice Chau/HKFP. Hailey Cheng, a City University student who is currently on leave, said on social media on Friday that she was arrested the day before in relation to the MediSafe controversy. In June, Cheng raised concerns that MediSafe – a medication prescription app that won multiple awards – was not actually made by secondary school student Clarisse Poon. Cheng’s social media posts went viral, and later, a US-based software development company called AI Health Studio said it was commissioned by Cheng’s mother to build the app. The company said the app was submitted to competitions without its consent. Hailey Cheng. Photo: Google Developer Group Hong Kong. On Friday, Cheng said she had been arrested for allegedly disclosing somebody’s personal data without their consent and causing them harm. “The case has already entered legal procedures... I will not be making any comments,” she wrote in Chinese. HKFP has reached out to the police force for comment. MediSafe won several awards, including the government-backed Hong Kong ICT Awards in 2024. Poon has returned all awards associated with the app, her parents said in August after AI Health Studio released its statement. Her mother, Roberta Pang, said her daughter conceptualised the app after seeing medical incidents involving prescription errors, and that she entered the competitions in January and February 2024. But Pang admitted she had approached a software company in March 2024 to explore commercialising the app.