The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) has unveiled a Data Protection curriculum to offer training on Data Protection Act 2019.
Legal officer in the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, Eugene Odhiambo, said ODPC has partnered with Kenya School of Government (KSG) to offer the course to Data Controllers and Data Processors as Government moves to curb misuse of personal data by unauthorized persons.
Odhiambo urged both public and private entities involved in collection of personal data to train their staff at KSG in order to ensure compliance with the law.
The Data Protection Law makes provision for the regulation of processing of personal data to provide for the rights of data subjects and obligations of data controllers and processors.
He said the law sets out what should be done to make sure everyone’s data is used properly and fairly.
Speaking during a multi-agency awareness sensitization workshop for Data Controllers and processors in Kakamega town, Odhiambo said ODPC’s role is to ensure that those who keep personal data comply with the provisions of the Acts.
Odhiambo, who represented the Data Protection Commissioner Immaculate Kassait, said in line with Data Protection Act 2019, all Data Controllers and Data Processors are required to register with ODPC, with registration fee depending on the category of the controllers or processors which is determined by their annual turnover or revenue and number of employees.
“Once the Data Protection Act 2019 came into effect, all public, private and non-profit entities involved in collection of personal data must also register with ODPC,” he added.
Odhiambo said that the office of the Data Protection Commissioner has so far received over 3,800 complaints from people complaining about misuse of their personal information and investigations are ongoing for 19 of those complaints.
Odhiambo said the curriculum on data protection will help enhance capacity on data protection along with the ongoing multi-agency awareness campaigns in all 47 counties.
By George Kaiga
