Senegal First African Country to Implement Recommendations of ‘Personal Data Protection Guidelines for Africa’

Last week, we have had a busy two days (11-12 October 2018) in Dakar participating in a mutlistakeholder workshop on Privacy and Personal Data Protection in Senegal co-organized by the Personal Data Protection Commission (CDP), the Ministry in charge of Digital Economy (MCTPEN), the Internet Society Senegal Chapter, and supported by the African Regional Bureau of the Internet Society. This workshop was recommended in the Personal Data Protection Guidelines for Africa launched in May 2018 during #AISDakar by the African Union and the Internet Society.

Senegal stands out as the first African Union member to act on that recommendation and run such a workshop, bringing together policy makers, law enforcement, data protection authorities, lawyers, academics, entrepreneurs, and actors of the private sector, civil society, and technologists to debate the issues and build a shared vocabulary and shared understanding.

The discussion was wide-ranging, informed, and mature…

Wide-ranging, because the organizers did a great job of attracting a diverse and engaged set of stakeholders and giving them the time and space to contribute.

Informed, because the participants were asking all the right questions (about privacy, innovation, cybercrime, threats to information, reputation and Continue reading