Draft Data Protection Bill open for public input

Apr 16, 2023 News

Kaieteur News – The Government of Guyana intends to lay in the National Assembly shortly, the Data Protection Bill 2023.

As part of its policy to engage in public consultations on important pieces of intended legislation, the Government hereby invites submissions and recommendations in relation to the draft Bill from national stakeholder organisations and members of the public.

According to the memorandum explaining its purpose, the Bill is aimed at safeguarding person’s right to protection with respect to the processing of personal data. This includes data pertaining to the private life of a person, which includes professional activities, as well as information concerning the person’s public life.

This Bill also recognises a person’s right to privacy which is universally recognised as one of the inalienable human rights.

As noted in Article 12 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ‘no one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence’.

Similarly, Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights recognises the right to privacy.

The right to respect a person’s private life and the right to protection of personal data are interlinked. Both are essential for the fulfillment of other rights such as the freedom of expression, freedom of peaceful assembly and association, and freedom of religion.

Moreover, due to the developments in the field of information, communication and technology and the rise in cybercrimes, the need to protect personal information is all the more important.

Importantly, the rights captured in this Bill are not absolute, but may be limited if necessary for protecting the rights and freedoms of others.

In fact, the very act of processing of personal data is considered lawful interference with rights and freedoms.

For this reason, the Bill sets out the legal parameters within which data can be processed in accordance with law. Consequently, the objects of the Bill are to define the general principles of data protection and the rights of data subjects; protect personal data collected, used or stored by both private and public entities; and provide for enforcement mechanisms, including penalties, for failure to process personal data in accordance with the law.

Part I of the Bill, which includes Clauses 1 to 3, sets out the short title and commencement of the Act, the definition of key words and terms used in the Bill and the scope of the Act.

Importantly, that part of the Bill states the Minister is empowered to assign different days for different provisions of the Act to come into operation. As it relates to the application of the Act, Clause 3 of the Bill indicates that this law shall be applicable to the processing of personal data by data controllers and data processors- who are established in Guyana; or who, although not established in Guyana uses equipment located in Guyana for the processing of personal data (otherwise than for transit through Guyana); or processes personal data of an individual in Guyana.

Part II of the Bill, which includes Clauses 4 to 10, sets out the data protection principles. These principles are that personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner; collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes only; adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary in relation to the purposes for which they are processed; accurate and, where necessary, kept up to date; kept in a form which permits identification of data subjects for no longer than is necessary; and processed in a manner that ensures appropriate security of the personal data.

The draft Bill can be accessed on the Attorney General and Ministry of Legal Affairs’ website www.mola.gov.gy and submissions and recommendations are hereby invited within twenty-one (21) days from Saturday April 15, 2023 to [email protected].

Additionally, the draft Bill will be circulated to relevant national stakeholder organisations for their submissions and recommendations within a similar timeframe.

Data Protection Bill, Government, National Assembly, Protection, submissions

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Draft Data Protection Bill open for public input

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