[kictanet] As Facebook and Google collect more data on Africans, their governments will seek to exploit that — Quartz

[Barrack Otieno]

Hi Esther,

Well put. It is my prayer and hope that the incoming members of
parliament will prioritize Data Protection Laws and requisite legal
frameworks that will support the information economy. We have a very
narrow focus at the moment when it comes to data protection and
privacy since we look at it from the lenses of individual rights i
think when we start highlighting the impact of some of this omissions
on the countries Information economy and by extension the GDP, the
situation is likely to change.

Best Regards

On 2/20/17, esther kamande via kictanet <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
> The trend is worrying, shut downs are not new; they are just getting
> sophisticated by the day owing to new technologies which get better by the
> day.
>
>
>
> Having worked in some parts of Northern Kenya a few years back.  I got to
> experience this first hand where the connection had been disrupted as a way
> of cutting off communication among warring villages. The intention is
> usually justified as "for emergency/security purposes" but then again this
> can also been used for political purposes. Secondly, this is never
> documented and most times as I came to learn from the locals, it was the
> norm for connection to go off during certain seasons. I further noted they
> could not establish whether this was a deliberate shut down or just another
> technical glitch as they couldn't tell the difference but the timings
> raised eyebrows.
>
> If indeed deliberate, It is also not clear from which government agency the
> directive comes from which further raises eyebrows as such a move should be
> made public for accountability purposes.
>
>
>
> Governments have not been saints in the past and we should not expect this
> to change overnight and I agree Ali, vigilance is key, hence the many
> questions behind the recent move by CA on the DMS system. Having *“all
> Mobile Operators connect to the DMS system”* a system that is run by a
> third party opens up many questions especially the fact that this has been
> done outside of the public eye and the details regarding the system have
> served to raise more questions than offer comfort to users. Secondly, the
> silence by Mobile Service Providers on the same raises more questions as
> there seems to be some level of discomfort otherwise they would  be
> defending the move already.
>
>
>
> Fact is, the regulator calls the shots and mobile service providers must
> comply therefore we can only expect so much from them. The way I see it,
> our best shot at defending this space is in Africa is through through a
> standardized system of laws that apply in all member states of the African
> Union i.e pushing for ratification of the African Union Convention on Cyber
> Security and Personal Data Protection in Africa and further pushing for
> data protection laws locally like in Netherlands where even the
> government needs a court order to take down a website.
>
>
> Regards,
>
> Esther Kamande
>
> Advocate | Policy Analyst
>
> Twitter: @enkamande
>
>
>
>
>
> On Mon, Feb 20, 2017 at 5:33 AM, Ali Hussein via kictanet <
> kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke> wrote:
>
>> Listers
>>
>> The trend towards less internet privacy is spreading the world over.
>> Western Countries unfortunately have been at the forefront of this
>> worrying
>> trend. Africa is simply catching up. Does this mean that we in Africa
>> should simply give up and let our governments across the continent borrow
>> a
>> dark leaf from their counterparts in Europe and the US (as a lister
>> seemed
>> to suggest last week)?
>>
>> Let us continue to be vigilant and if we are unable to stop them let us
>> at
>> least shine a light on those who will strive to limit our freedoms in the
>> name of 'National Security'.
>>
>> https://qz.com/914708/as-facebook-and-google-collect-more-da
>> ta-on-africans-their-governments-will-seek-to-exploit-that/
>>
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>> *Principal*
>> *Hussein & Associates*
>> +254 0713 601113
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>> LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim
>>
>> "We are what we repeatedly do. Excellence, therefore, is not an act but a
>> habit."  ~ Aristotle
>>
>>
>> Sent from my iPad
>>
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>


-- 
Barrack O. Otieno
+254721325277
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Skype: barrack.otieno
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