Coronavirus: High court rules Vodafone, MTN can share subscriber data to govt

The Ghanaian units of Vodafone and MTN are allowed to share subscriber data with the government to help it track down the contacts of coronavirus cases, a high court in Accra ruled.

“It would go against citizens 'overall wellbeing' for the court to stop telecommunications providers from sharing data with authorities amid a pandemic”, Justice Stephen Oppong said in his decision on Tuesday, June 23, 2020.

A private citizen had filed an injunction order asking the country’s two biggest operators to suspend data-sharing with the government, saying it breached domestic and international privacy laws.

“The purpose of the collection of the data is for the protection of the whole state of Ghana,” Justice Oppong added.