INNOVATION
Are Kenyan Companies
Ready To Innovate Around
Data Protection Laws?
By Eugene Wanekeya
B
usiness in the 21st century
marketplace is becoming more and
more data driven as companies seek
to get an edge over their competition by
acquiring quality consumer insights and
generating leads based on these insights.
The better and more intimately you know
your customer, the better placed you are
to demonstrate your value proposition to
them. However, a spanner is about to be
thrown in the works, in the name of Data
Protection Laws.
It’s no secret that consumer insights are
mostly acquired from companies that are
in a position to collect personal data from
individuals. In most cases, these individuals
provide this data willingly for specific
purposes however, unbeknownst to them,
this data ends up being used for additional
purposes that they did not expressly consent
to, some instances leading to misuse of this
personal information. This is primarily why
privacy of personal information was made
a human right enshrined in the Kenyan
Constitution.
Data Protection Bill 2018
In order to stay at per with the technological
realities of today, the Government of Kenya
through the ICT Ministry (in consultation
with industry stakeholders) has gone a step
further and drafted the Data Protection Bill
2018 that seeks to establish a comprehensive
data protection regime in Kenya.
The principal objective of this Bill is to
guarantee the protection of personal data
collected, used or stored by both private
and public entities. This is in keeping in line
with the constitutional requirement for the
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MAL28/19 ISSUE
firms were staring at losses to the tune of
over $9 billion, with many other smaller
Should this Bill sail through Parliament firms contemplating shutting down
and get enacted into law, it will spell a new their operations. It has additionally been
dawn for companies that are custodians reported that leading tech giants such as
of individuals’ personal information, Google, Facebook, Apple, Amazon and
or companies that acquire individuals’ LinkedIn have already had lawsuits filed
personal information from third parties against them and face up to $8 billion in
and make use of them in their various fines. All this resulting from their slow
ventures. Any individual or company that pace in fully innovating their operations
will be found to have obtained and used an to fully comply with this new dawn of
individual’s personal information without Data Protection Laws.
their explicit consent will be in breach of
this law and liable to face legal action.
What’s the way forward?
protection of privacy for every citizen.
Data Protection lessons
from Europe
Just over seven months ago, the European
Union (EU) took a similar step by enacting
the General Data Protection Regulation
(GDPR). Just like Kenya’s Data Protection
Bill 2018, the GDPR is a regulation in the
EU law on data protection and privacy for
all individuals within the Union as well
as the European Economic Area (EEA).
This law also addresses the export of
personal data outside the EU and EEA
areas. Essentially, the GDPR seeks to give
control to individuals over their personal
data and to simplify the regulatory
environment for international business by
unifying the regulation within the EU.
There are already plenty of lessons that
Kenyan companies can draw from the
situation in Europe and begin to mitigate
against them early. Case in point, financial
services experts in America and Europe
have reported that barely six months
into the implementation of the GDPR,
European and US-based Fortune 500
Whereas I doubt that majority of the
Kenyan citizenry is presently sufficiently
empowered to understand the power
that will be conferred upon them by
the Data Protection Bill 2018 should
it be enacted into law, that doesn’t
absolve companies the responsibility
of innovating around these laws. The
earlier companies empower their
staff, especially those who directly or
indirectly deal with individuals’ personal
data, the better their business outcomes
will be. To quote the old and famous
French proverb which remains relevant
to this day, “a stitch in time saves nine.”
Eugene Wanekeya is the Head
of PR and Communications at
ATLANCIS Technologies, an
Innovative IT Solutions provider
transforming the ICT landscape in
Africa. To interact with and get to
know more about this trend spotter,
you can reach him via mail at:
[email protected].