By Jeorge Wilson KINGSON
The government is set to present a data protection bill for the consideration of parliament before the end of this year, Businessweek has reliably gathered.
This is expected to be done in time before the House goes on its final recess for the year. The house is scheduled to go on an eight week break, commencing Friday July 23.
The data protection bill is one of the legislations the government is seeking to use as a legal backing for the ongoing nationwide registration of SIM cards, being undertaken by the telecommunication companies in the country.
It seeks to, among others, prevent telecoms companies and any other organization that collates personal data from releasing such data to a third party without the prior consent of the individual or organization.
The draft of the bill has already been completed and it is currently with the Attorney General’s Department for legal and technical input.
Cabinet is expected to make inputs and approve the draft bill within the next two weeks, after which it will be presented to parliament for consideration and passage into law.
Currently, there is no specific law that protects data of individuals or organizations; as such, a third party seeking information or data on a registered National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) or Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributor can easily access it from the institutions without the prior consent of the individual.
Minister for Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, told parliament last week that though there is nothing legally wrong with the exercise, which was authorized by the National Communications Authority (NCA), a data protection bill will further strengthen the protection of data in the country.
“The requirement for the registration of SIM Cards is provided for in Section 8 (2) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, Act 775, under the head notes ‘Obligations of operators of Electronic Communications Networks and Communications Services’,” the minister stated.
The Act states that “The Authority may authorize a network operator or service provider to disclose lists of its subscribers, including directory access data bases, for the publication of directories or for other purposes that the Authority may specify.”
Iddrisu emphasized that the rationale for the registration exercise is therefore to enable the operators obtain a database of their subscribers, adding that the NCA deems the operational information necessary to help eliminate the growing incidence of anonymous threats and insults emanating from phone calls made from mobile phones whose owner’s identity is unknown.
“The registration will therefore help enhance security. At the same time fraud, crime and threats perpetrated by unidentified callers would be curtailed through the SIM Card registration,” he contended.
He stressed further that the SIM card registration will facilitate the deployment of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) to allow mobile phone users to retain their numbers while shifting to a different service provider to have choice and better quality of service.
The government is set to present a data protection bill for the consideration of parliament before the end of this year, Businessweek has reliably gathered.
This is expected to be done in time before the House goes on its final recess for the year. The house is scheduled to go on an eight week break, commencing Friday July 23.
The data protection bill is one of the legislations the government is seeking to use as a legal backing for the ongoing nationwide registration of SIM cards, being undertaken by the telecommunication companies in the country.
It seeks to, among others, prevent telecoms companies and any other organization that collates personal data from releasing such data to a third party without the prior consent of the individual or organization.
The draft of the bill has already been completed and it is currently with the Attorney General’s Department for legal and technical input.
Cabinet is expected to make inputs and approve the draft bill within the next two weeks, after which it will be presented to parliament for consideration and passage into law.
Currently, there is no specific law that protects data of individuals or organizations; as such, a third party seeking information or data on a registered National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) or Social Security and National Insurance Trust (SSNIT) contributor can easily access it from the institutions without the prior consent of the individual.
Minister for Communications, Haruna Iddrisu, told parliament last week that though there is nothing legally wrong with the exercise, which was authorized by the National Communications Authority (NCA), a data protection bill will further strengthen the protection of data in the country.
“The requirement for the registration of SIM Cards is provided for in Section 8 (2) of the Electronic Communications Act, 2008, Act 775, under the head notes ‘Obligations of operators of Electronic Communications Networks and Communications Services’,” the minister stated.
The Act states that “The Authority may authorize a network operator or service provider to disclose lists of its subscribers, including directory access data bases, for the publication of directories or for other purposes that the Authority may specify.”
Iddrisu emphasized that the rationale for the registration exercise is therefore to enable the operators obtain a database of their subscribers, adding that the NCA deems the operational information necessary to help eliminate the growing incidence of anonymous threats and insults emanating from phone calls made from mobile phones whose owner’s identity is unknown.
“The registration will therefore help enhance security. At the same time fraud, crime and threats perpetrated by unidentified callers would be curtailed through the SIM Card registration,” he contended.
He stressed further that the SIM card registration will facilitate the deployment of Mobile Number Portability (MNP) to allow mobile phone users to retain their numbers while shifting to a different service provider to have choice and better quality of service.
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