GISF Commends Data Protection Commission

The campaign for a safer and better internet environment for all users in Ghana has received the needed boost with the enactment of the Data Protection Act. Major strides have been made to enhance access to Information communication technology (ICT) since the Ghana ICT Policy for Accelerated Development (ICT4AD) in 2004 in an effort to rake in the innumerable benefits of technology in a globalized setting.

The migration to a Digital Terrestrial Television Broadcasting system is currently underway to tap into the global telecommunications ecosystem. However, control of the technology was yet to receive the needed attention in terms of how personal data bothering on individual privacy was handled in Ghana.

Until February 2016, Ghanaians were not at liberty to be selective about the disclosure of personal information without being privy to its intended use. This was in contradiction to the formulation of the Data Protection Act (ACT 843) in 2012 to safeguard personal information and individual privacy in Ghana. The Act aimed to regulate the process by which personal information of data subjects for documents such as passport, medical or admission forms, visa etc is obtained, held, used or disclosed by data controllers and data processors.

This is in compliance with certain data protection stipulations such as accountability, openness, quality of information, lawfulness of processing among others.

Data controller refers to a person or body with defined purposes to collect information from a data subject.

The Act also established the Data Protection Commission (DPC), “an independent statutory body established to protect the privacy and personal data by regulating the processing of personal information.” (Data Protection Commission, 2016). This is in effect an implementation dimension to Article 18(2) of the 1992 Constitution which guarantees privacy of communication as a fundamental right of the citizen.

The Ghana Internet Safety Foundation (GISF) therefore commends the Government of Ghana for joining the enviable list of countries in Africa like Morocco, Mauritius and Angola operating under a data protection regime.

This laudable achievement was formally out doored at the two-day Data Protection Conference, attended by more than 600 stakeholders comprising data controllers and processors from Ghana and abroad on the theme “Creating the Right Balance between the Need for Information and Data Protection”.

A nationwide sensitization campaign is crucial to making the law fully operational. Nonetheless, it is expected that this would go a long way to being a vital step towards the online protection of Ghana’s digital citizenry. Consequently, the number of people within this socioeconomic bracket outweigh that of the country’s voter register thereby making it a vital opinion resource pool at the nation’s disposal.

Be that as it may, concerns are being raised about the management of electronic data collected and kept across servers and networks in different locations across the globe.

The question is how are the digital footprints of the Ghanaian digital citizenry going to be protected in this smart age? This is because the level of education vis-à-vis ways to promote a society of responsible and alert Internet users coupled with the protection of children’s well-being online leave much to be desired.

The invisible hand of this digital era dictates that individuals, civil society organizations, the media, political, religious bodies and every stakeholder commit to building awareness and delivering strategies to keep our youth safe while they engage in online activities. While we wait on the DPC to design a broader implementation roadmap of the data protection law, GISF invites you to join the call for a safer and better internet for all users particularly on February 9, Safer Internet Day which is going to be celebrated across the globe.

Keywords: privacy, personal data, child online protection, awareness, campaign, GISF, DPC, Ghana.

Kwasi Nyarko Mensah,

Senior Policy Analyst,

Ghana Internet Safety Foundation

[email protected]