•
To comply with certain ‘principles of good practice’ in respect of their
processing activities, including accountability, transparency, fair and
lawful processing, processing limitation, data accuracy and data security.
•
To supply the individual with a copy of any personal data being held and
processed and provide an opportunity for incorrect data to be amended.
The cost of regulation will be a critical factor in data protection. The cost associated
with a comprehensive or omnibus approach, specifically the establishment of a
dedicated regulatory authority, will generally be excessive for most developing
countries, especially if borne by the private sector through licensing or notification
fees. However, in terms of addressing privacy concerns vis-à-vis public sector
infringements, an authority independent from government will generally be necessary
in order to provide the necessary trust and assurance in its activities. The regulatory
authority may not have an exclusively data protection remit, which mitigates the costs
involved.
Whilst a self-regulatory or co-regulatory approach may be appealing in terms of
minimising the public costs of regulation, its success depends on a sufficiently strong
and active private sector, willing and able to fund the regulatory activity. It is also
unlikely to be appropriate in terms of the public sector use of personal data.
The Task Force recognises the critical importance of data protection and privacy
and recommends that further work needs to carried out on this issue, to ensure
that (a) the privacy of citizens is not eroded through the Internet; (b) that
legislation providing for access to official information is appropriately taken into
account; (c) the institutional implications of such reforms and (d) to take into
account fully international best practice in the area (R.19).
3. Conclusions and way forward
All the EAC Partner States have expressly recognised the need to address the legal
and regulatory framework as one element of a national response to the promotion of
ICTs and electronic commerce. In addition, there are numerous international and
regional model instruments available to Partner States to guide them when drafting
national legal measures that reflect best practice in the field, specifically those
provided in the Annexes. However, the Task Force recognises the challenges faced by
Partner States in order to successfully take the process of law reform from initial
recognition of the issue and the preparation of draft measures to their formal adoption
by the national political institutions and implementation in a manner that has a real
impact on business and administrative attitudes and practices.
From experience in other jurisdictions, addressing the process of effective law reform
will often involve a number of elements and steps. First, there is the need for express
political commitment to the law reform process at the highest level of governments.
Second, a relevant government ministry must claim ownership over the matter and be
prepared to devote sufficient internal resources, both to carry out the necessary work
internally as well as liaise and co-ordinate actively with other relevant stakeholders in
the process, particularly other ministerial departments. A third element is the need to
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