Parliament summons 3 Ministers over Data Protection

Parliament has summoned three ministers over measures being taken to protect sensitive state data and data of the country’s citizens.

The Ministers of Communication, Interior, and National Security would be required to provide a joint brief before the plenary.

The directive follows concerns raised by Members of Parliament (MPs) on the laxity of Ghana's laws on the protection of data after the Data Protection Commission recently indicated some private and state institutions over breaches in data protection.

First Deputy Speaker, Joseph Osei-Owusu issued the directive to the three ministers on the back of a statement from MP for Juaben, Ama Pomaa Boateng.

“Honourable members, in the circumstance, I direct that the Ministers of National Security, Interior and Communication come to brief the House as a committee of the whole to assure members that data collected from us and indeed of national state institutions are well protected,” Mr Osei-Owusu said Wednesday, 29 June 2017.

Ama Pomaa Boateng, who is also a Member of Parliament's Communication Committee, said parliament must make sure government agencies tasked with data collection strictly adhere to data protection laws.

She said: “Privacy has been largely protected indirectly under scattered provision under different laws and regulation. Implementing a successful e-government requires a level of trust and assurance from all transacting parties on the protection of our information. The Data Protection Commission must tell us where and who has our information in all the e-government activities.

“Mr Speaker, what I seek to draw this House’s attention to is to ensure that government agencies responsible for data collection are made to strictly adhere to the principles of data protection in its e-government activities. Our data privacy regulator needs to assure citizens how it is respecting the privacy of our digital information within the data protection laws of Ghana.”

Meanwhile, the Data Protection Commission recently cited some 117 institutions for flouting the data protection regulations.

The Commission has said to protect the interest of the public, it will have no choice but to commence the prosecution of the offending institutions and the publication of their names to prevent reckless misapplication, use and abuse of personal data.