[kictanet] Fw: Africa Union Convention

[Network of non- formal Educational institutions]

Dear All
I met Marcela at the All Voices Count Meeting at ihub on Friday and I asked her to send the document below for your input. You can contact her

Jane


On Monday, October 14, 2013 10:53 AM, Marcela Sinda <marcelasinda at gmail.com> wrote:
 




Dear Jane,

The African Union has
prepared a final draft of an AU Convention on Cyber security (“the AUCC”). The
AUCC is scheduled for final passage at an AU meeting in January 2014. 
After extensive
discussions with various Kenyan stakeholders from industry, academia, and NGOs,
we (Strathmore - Centre for Intellectual Property) have identified numerous provisions in the AUCC that, if passed by the AU
and ratified by Kenya, will have substantial negative effects on the Kenyan
online economy and social culture. A few of the more problematic examples are:
 
1.  The AUCC significantly restricts
freedom of expression in violation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 by
prohibiting individuals from expressing  ideas and theories on religion and ethnicity. 
2.  The AUCC requires
governments to have in place a mechanism for cyber forensic investigations into
online criminal activity. This includes appointment of investigativejudges
with almostunlimited power to require seizure and analysis of digital and
physical evidence. Most African governments currently lack legislative and
technical capability to satisfy such a legal requirement, and the likelihood of
misuse is high.
3.   The AUCC criminalizes
all unsolicited electronic communications. No government or intergovernmental
treaty in the world has had success in doing this; it is completely impractical
and will draw wide criticism for selective enforcement or lack of enforcement. 
4.   The AUCC requires that a
person or a corporate organization engaging in electronic financial
transactions (e.g., M-Pesa or OLX users) provide full identity information,
including PIN and address information. This requirement is costly and risky,
and it remains unclear how such data will be protected and how confidentiality
will be maintained.
Finally,preparation of the AUCC involved little or no consultation with
non-government stakeholders. Major industry stakeholders have expressed
serious misgivings to us about the scope and practicality of the AUCC. Most
industry stakeholders, however, remain completely unaware even of the existence
of the draft AUCC.Oppose passage of the AUCC in its current form here

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/takeaction/262/148/817/   




PS: We would like to have organization endorse this movement by allowing us to use their logo. We have among others, Google, iHub, iLab Africa and CIPIT at Strathmore.





Regards,
Marcela Sinda



 | Project Management | 

M: (+254) 727 987 907 S: sinda.marcela  T: SindaMM  
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