JUBA – South Sudan government and digital security experts have completed the drafting of the country’s first Data Protection Policy Bill which is expected to be enacted early next year.
When passed, the bill will establish the Data Protection Commission mandated to safeguard personal data of South Sudanese online users.
The digital security bill’s development is facilitated by Koneta Initiative and Paradigm Initiative, in collaboration with the National Communication Authority and civil society organizations.
“When South Sudan gets the protection agent that is independent and that is well-funded and that is efficient, then people can also report when there’s a violation,” said Gbenga Sesan, Executive Director of Paradigm Initiative.
“You can seek redress and that stops the next person from abusing this data. As we move through life, we leave data problems. This data not only needs to be protected, but you need to know that at any point in time it is yours, and if someone misuses it, you can seek redress.”
The deputy chairperson of the parliament’s Specialized Committee on National Security and Public Order, Samuel Buhori, said the draft bill will be further refined before it goes to the parliament for enactment.
“As a country, without a data protection law, without even a data center for that matter, it’s important that we put this law in place. As the government looks for opportunities to put up the data infrastructure in the country, it’s important that the policy must be put in place as early as possible,” Buhori said.
“We have identified all the gaps that need to be filled and the next step, I believe, we’re going to take a more detailed approach on how we can continue to refine the bill before it takes the necessary process to get the parliament and get the data to work.”
Chairperson of Digital Rights Frontline, Nelson Kwaje, explained that without the data protection legislation, online users face data violations from foreign companies.
He said enacting such laws will address such situations by holding internet firms accountable.
“It’s mainly to protect the rights of individuals because data is an extension of your presence. Right now, we’re getting into a very digitized thing. People have mobile accounts, bank accounts, people do airline tickets.”
“These are all traces of your presence and then the more we progress right now in South Sudan, the more we’ll see these things going online, whether it’s banking and the rest. Right now, there is no law that governs that.”
“So in case you lose your data or in case someone abuses your data or even if at times there is data that is needed for prosecution or for criminal offence, there is no way that that can be processed right now, or the legal frameworks are not sufficient.”