Regional consultations on the Data Protection Bill by the Ministry of Information and Communication Technology in the Kavango East Region started here on Tuesday.

Explaining what the Bill wants to achieve during consultations, Deputy Director in the ministry, Elizabeth Kamutuezu, said it talks about various role players such as government offices, ministries and agencies and how they deal with people’s information.

The objective of the Bill is to protect the fundamental rights and freedoms of natural persons and in particular, their right to privacy with respect to the processing of personal data.

Another objective is to prevent unlawful use, collection, processing, transmission and storage of personal information by private and public bodies.

“This Bill is a culmination of Article 13 of the Namibian Constitution that gives us all a right to privacy. It does not matter whether you are rich or poor, we all have the right to privacy,” Kamutuezu said.

The deputy director said with the introduction of social media, the right to privacy has been taken away as one’s information can be used without their consent.

She said data is the new diamond in the information and communication technology space, adding that everyone wants data.

Kamutuezu said organisations that do not comply with the Bill will face prosecution, including government offices.

“As far as we have observed, a lot of data breaches come from government offices. Even from the highest office of the president you will find a leak of personal information,” she said.

One of the consultants who worked on the Bill, Samson Muhapi, said they started working on it in 2013 and revisited it in 2020.

The next regional consultation on the Bill will be held on 22 November 2022 in the Erongo Region.

Source: The Namibian Press Agency