Data protection within the cloud: lessons for the new African data protection regime from the European data protection framework.
Date
2016
Authors
Mbabu, Oscar Koome
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Strathmore University
Abstract
The digital wave has finally hit Africa, and its effect upon the African economy has been immensely positive. With the development of innovative products such as Safaricom's M-Pesa money transfer service, as well as iCow, a farming digital product that has optimized dairy farmers' productivity, the consumer market has developed an appetite for sound, data-centric solutions in order to enhance the various socio-economic activities present within the Continent.
At the centre of the immense adoption of emergent technologies by the African populace is one of the most valuable resources present in the current technology era; data. The latter enables the adoption and execution of innovative strategies by multinational companies in order to minimise costs and maximise profits. Moreover, the widespread use of Big Data technologies and the incorporation of data into corporate strategies enables efficient market segmentation as solutions are tailor-made to suit specified clientele according to their needs. The latter leads to products that effectively lead to technological leaps and contribute immensely in terms of trickle-down benefits to the larger society. This could go a long way in combating familiar foes of African development such as ignorance (through educational platforms, such as Coursera), disease (through healthcare solutions such as HelloDoctor) and poverty (the kuhustle.co.ke application has enabled the provision of on-demand software services to the public through a bidding process, leading to access of cheaper affordable services for customers, while generating revenue for the biddee).
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Despite the monumental opportunities presented by the advent of emergent technologies, specifically cloud technologies whose proliferation in Africa is abundant, the African Union 's member states remain largely unprepared for the data presence within their jurisdictions. Only seven out of fifty-four African States have a working data protection policy, while the mobile phone industry continues to post sales of upto 50million units per year within the African market. The exposure to the violation of consumer rights as well as privacy rights guaranteed by the Universal Declaration of Human Rights is immense for citizens of African States . This paper intends to analyse the various data protection principles sourced from the European Union, whilst juxtaposing it with the present African data protection regime, insofar as the recent adoption of the African Union's Convention on Cybercrime and Personal Data Regulation is concerned. This paper will also critically analyse the encounter between an emergent, cloud¬based technology and the Kenyan jurisdiction, in the case of Bernard Murage v. Fine serve Kenya Limited & Three Others, in order to understand the state of Kenya's data protection standing in the current crisis. Finally, this paper will give the author's humble recommendations based on the view of more prominent Internet jurists who have dealt with the subject matter
Description
A Dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the Bachelor of Law (LL.B) degree