Data Commissioner Announces Inspections in Schools & Hospitals
Data Commissioner Announces Inspections in Schools & Hospitals
Data Commissioner Announces Inspections in Schools & Hospitals
Immaculate Kassait, the Data Commissioner, has said that her staff will conduct a nationwide investigation to verify that commercial and public establishments adhere to data protection regulations.Speaking during Kisumu County’s International Data Privacy Day, the commissioner said that more than 40 operations were planned for this year.
Educational institutions, healthcare facilities, and communication firms are some of the organizations that have data protection policies in place.She described similar operations that were carried out in 2023 and said that the inspection will make sure the institutions complied with the requirements.
“The Office carried out 42 inspections of Data Controllers and Data Processors to ascertain the level of compliance with the Data Protection Act, 2019 and Data Protection Regulations.”To enhance the office’s capacity to cover the entire country, the office sought and obtained approval from the National Treasury to outsource auditing and training services. It is worth noting that the office has prequalified a total of 50 firms to carry out training and auditing. This has not only enhanced compliance but also created jobs for the private sector,” read the statement in part.
The commissioner added that her agency will look into concerns pertaining to personal data and get back to parties within 90 days with the results.After conducting investigations, 2,761 of the 3,553 complaints that Kassait’s office received in 2023 were settled.
However, Eliud Owalo, Cabinet Secretary for Information and Communications Technology, also emphasized how crucial it is for governmental organizations to abide by data privacy laws.As instructed by President William Ruto in January 2023, Owalo asked ministries and state departments to register with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner.
“Towards this, allow me to report that out of the total of 3,739 data controllers and data processors so far registered with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, 150 are government Ministries, Departments and Agencies,” said the commissioner.The 2024 Network of African Data Protection Authorities (NADPA) AGM meeting will be held in Nairobi, Kenya.
