The Ministry of Communications and the Ghana Data Protection will host the first Africa Data Protection and Privacy conference in Accra.

The two-day conference, slated from June 26 to 27, was in partnership with the Network of African Data Protection Authorities, to mark an important milestone in the roadmap towards promoting the enactment of Data Protection and Privacy laws in Africa.

It will bring together international stakeholders, including; the United Nations Special Rapporteur on Rights to Privacy, the African Union, the East African Community, the European Union and UK Information Commissioner.

Madam Patricia Adusei Poku, the Commissioner of the Data Protection Commission, said countries across the Africa Region were enacting Data Protection and Privacy laws and establishing Supervisory Authorities in response to the increased use of technology, the pace of digitisation and the exponential growth of activity in the global cyberspace.

She said the Conference would being together established Authorities in Africa and their Global North counterparts for thought leadership, insight, best practice and high-level strategic content, providing a critical platform for promoting Africa’s drive for Data Protection and Privacy laws in Africa.

Some of the topics to be discussed include; ethical approaches and processing for the global good, data protection and privacy and financial inclusion in Africa, data protection and cyberspace.

The Commission was established under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), to protect the privacy of the individual and personal data by regulating the processing of personal information.

Section 27 of the Act makes it mandatory for all those who process personal data to register with the Commission.

Madam Adusei Poku expressed concern about organisations that did not comply with the Act, adding that it was an offence for institutions that processed data without registration with the Commission.

She said it behoved on the management of the organisation to sensitise their staff on the need to protect personal data of staff from unauthorised disclosure and unlawful use.

The Commissioner said protecting personal data was critical to the fundamental human rights, stressing that personal data in the wrong hands could cause serious harm, damage and repercussions.

She called on all stakeholders that had not registered with the Commission to do so, as there would soon be a surprise exercise to check on institutions.