Written By Vanessa Kariuki |
ICT and The Digital Economy Principal Secretary Eng John Tanui visited the headquarters of the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) to familiarize himself with the operations of the entity.
Immaculate Kassait, the Data Commissioner, welcomed the PS after which she briefed him or her on the activities of the ODPC, including enforcement and implementation, conducting assessments, international collaboration and research, and investigation.
In addition, there should be oversight, awareness-building, self-regulation promotion, and inspection of data controllers and processors.
The ODPC has so far registered 3,340 individuals, including governmental organisations, non-profit organisations, and members of the commercial sector. ODPC received 4,000 applications in total; the remaining applications are being audited at various levels.
PS Tanui argued for the training of public officials in data protection and suggested making plans for each State Department to have a designated data protection officer.
“With the government bringing 25,000 Wi-Fi hotspots to Kenyans, ODPC needs to deal with the data vulnerabilities that could arise,” said PS Tanui.
The PS noted that guaranteed data protection will attract global investors to Kenya who will be assured of Kenya’s compliance to global best practices.
On her part, Data Commissioner Kassait pointed out that data protection is a constitutional right of every Kenyan.
“The constitution of Kenya 2010 guarantees the right to privacy as a fundamental right,” Data Commissioner Kassait said.
Adding that, “If people appreciate the importance of data protection, they are better armed as far as cyber security is concerned.”
ODPC currently has a forensic tower that helps the company with its data breach investigations. The ODPC has received 2,136 complaints to date, of which 742 have been admitted, 29 are undergoing preliminary evaluation, and 19 are being looked into.
