Almost half of African countries don't have enough safety measures in place

A new study says that many African governments collect, store, and use biometric information about their citizens without taking the right steps to protect data security and privacy. In its Declaration of Principles of Freedom of Expression and Access to Information in Africa, the African Commission on Human and People's Rights (ACHPR) says what kind of protections are okay.

The paper was done in 23 African countries and is called "Privacy Endangered: An Analysis of Surveillance, Encryption, and Data Localization Laws in Africa." Algeria, Angola, Benin, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cape Verde, Central African Republic, Congo Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Gabon, Guinea Conakry, Côte d'Ivoire, Lesotho, Liberia, Madagascar, Mauritius, Morocco, Niger, Sao Tome and Principe, Sierra Leone, South Sudan, Sudan, and Togo are all involved.

According to the report, even though governments collect a lot of biometric data for things like SIM card registration, national ID cards, passports, and driver's licenses, many of them don't follow international human rights laws about data privacy.

The report says that many countries don't meet the requirements of Principle 40 of the ACHPR Declaration, which says that people have the right to privacy and that their personal information should be protected, and Principle 42 of the same Declaration, which says that states should put in place laws that protect personal information in line with international human rights law.

According to the report, some countries have data privacy rules that aren't clear, aren't enough, or aren't enforced properly. In many cases, there aren't any or very few strong monitoring systems in place to make sure regulations are followed.

The researchers are also worried about how easy it would be for security organizations and others to get access to biometrics and other data in the name of keeping law and order. They use Algeria as an example of a country with personal data protection laws that allow sensitive personal information to be used for the public good.

The paper admits that collecting a lot of data puts people's privacy at risk and that African countries must pass laws that can protect people's biometric data that is collected for official purposes.

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