Loopholes in privacy laws a threat to national security, warn experts

Dorothy Mukasa, the executive director of Unwanted Witness, says there’s a possibility of misusing national security provisions in Uganda’s privacy laws by both the government and third parties hired to manage huge data sets through encroachment on people’s privacy.

She was speaking at the launch of the second edition of the Unwanted Witness Privacy Moot Court Competition at Makerere University. The competition is slated for September 21 and September 22.

Unwanted Witness is a digital rights organization that advocates for the open, secure and inclusive use of technology that contributes to the realization of human rights and good governance. Mukasa noted that there are several loopholes within Uganda’s Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019 and the Interception of Communications Act of 2010.

Since January 2019, the government of Uganda has been installing CCTV cameras across the country to combat urban crime. This was followed by the signing of an agreement in June 2021 with Joint Stock Company Global Security, a Russian company that implements the smart tracking project in vehicles, for 10 years.

She said although national security is key, it has to be balanced with Ugandans’ right to privacy. She said, “National security is thriving on technology. It is in the form of the CCTV cameras spread across the nation and the digital car trackers that
will be installed in our cars soon. How can we achieve a balance between privacy and individual liberties? How do we balance the two?”

“The government is making huge investments in new surveillance technologies with the law that expands their surveillance powers. There’s a need for more safeguards and accountability. We are increasingly observing the privatization of public responsibilities through public-private surveillance partnerships without any human rights safeguards. There is a need for more scrutiny to ensure that human rights are not quietly abused, especially when the systems deployed are used for the mass processing of personal data. The data protection law gives leeway for surveillance for purposes of national security”.

Section seven of the Data Protection and Privacy Act of 2019 highlights national security among the necessary scenarios under which personal data can be collected. Section 13 subsection 3(b) of the same law notes, among other loopholes, that a data subject might not be informed when their data is being collected from a third party if the action is related to national security.

She noted that since Uganda’s population is predominantly made up of young people, the competitions would be an opportunity for young people in different law schools across the country to prove their understanding of Uganda’s privacy laws, establish the weaknesses in Uganda’s legal regime, and recommend solutions to the loopholes.

ABOUT THE MOOT

The competition shall be held under the theme “Balancing privacy rights and national security: Navigating the impact of surveillance laws on individual freedoms”.

Speaking at the same function, Dr Dianah Ahumuza Ateenyi, the head of Clinical Legal Education (CLE) at the Public Interest Law Clinic (PILAC) at Makerere University, confirmed the need for improvement of Uganda’s privacy laws to ensure that user data is protected.

Citing the 2022 privacy scorecard authored by Unwanted Witness, Ahumuza said the private sector was lagging in ensuring that the data of Ugandans was protected.

The scorecard, which scrutinized how data is handled in both Uganda and Kenya, indicated that companies in both countries are not keen on safeguarding personal data from accidental access, erasure, alteration, disclosure, or destruction.

It was also established that no company in both countries had published a transparency report in the year under review to disclose key metrics and information regarding data governance and enforcement measures.

Jonathan Areeba, the winner of the inaugural competitions and a fourth-year student at Kampala International University, recommended that students in all law schools should aspire to participate in the competition. It is hoped that the competition, which attracted approximately eight law schools last year, will attract about 12 this year.

samuelmuhindo@gmail.com