Nakuru, Sept. 20, Kenya (Xinhua) -- Kenya's proposed law on protection of personal data is a step towards promoting security of the country's citizens, although they have to be correctly sensitized on its provisions to avoid negating its purpose, an expert said on Friday.
Liz Orembo, a tech policy analyst at Kenya Information, Communication and Technology Action Network, said while the proposed data protection law gives authority to Kenyans to control use of their personal information, it is important they are aware of the freedoms and limits of invoking the law.
"Once the law comes into effect, it will be possible for anyone to track his information and request for it to be deleted from the data collectors' system. But one has to be aware, the point at which such request is made and in what form," said Orembo.
Under the law, data collectors will be required to have data auditors to look into the available personal data and clean it, thereby making it possible to track flow of personal information in case a data collector shares it without consent of the owner, stated Orembo.
Upholding privacy of private data eliminates opportunities for manipulation and misuse by criminals thus promoting the security of the country's citizens, said Cleophas Mochoge, a computer scientist at Kabarak University.
The data collectors will, however, need to design stringent internal policies and mechanisms to ensure there is controlled access to provided individual information, said Mochoge.
"It is important for the proposed law to be clear on repurposing and recontextualizing information, which implies using the data given by an individual for a different purpose and context other than the intended," said Mochoge.
"Clarity eliminates chances of capitalizing on the loopholes to breach the law and misuse the personal data," he added.
The proposed law has suggested use of unique identifiers to protect the identities of owners as a pro-active measure to safeguard the data.
While the pro-data law advocates support the proposal, they emphasized the necessity of establishing safety nets to put at bay illegal cracking of the identities.
