Data Mining: Data Rights are Human Rights

The same technology that is connecting us together is the same that is breaking us apart.

Hi techies, been busy. Today I feel like talking about an issue confronting my country together with the World. Lets talk about Data Rights and Protection especially in Kenya. Technology is growing very fast and its the biggest player in data mining.

The most important and most valuable commodity in our time has been data. What is Data? According to Information Technology - Data is unprocessed content yet to be turned to information which is useful for "consumption" and decision making. The most powerful and wealthiest companies in the World right now are those that hold the largest data of people in the World.
Most of these companies are technology based companies. Technology as we know it has extensively grown and keeps growing every minute and second. Do we have to fear this? Yes and no that is you to choose. Technology makes our lives better and easier and helps many people. In Kenya we have seen technology change people's lives and the government too - the government...does it really?

Data is the most valuable asset in the world with its value surpassing oil. This has bred to the rise of companies and individuals mining and hungry for data. The growth of social media has been huge and wide, there are now more that 65+ social media platforms. What is social Media? These are computer Mediated Communication technologies (websites and applications) which feeds on our emotions, routines, interests and a lot more by the content we create and share to networks/friends within the platform.

The amount of information technology gets from us is humongous and the temptation to use this data negatively is also huge. Social media and technology users are billions in number and the personal information and content they share freely online without being concerned about the terms and conditions is mind blowing. Just last week internet was hit by FaceApp, a Russian IOS and Android app which uses artificial intelligence to generate highly realistic transformations of faces in photographs, it went viral around the world despite the many allegations about it in its passed Apps. Millions of people around the world shared their photos and personal details with the app. Anyone can pay big money for such information. Imagine getting to know that if you open a particular dish restaurant at a particular place it will boom like crazy? That would be awesome right? Now imagine, that same data used to manipulate people to vote in parliament or presidency someone who has not a single lower or middle class citizen's interests at heart but money to make data get him/her votes. That's how far data collected online and even physically whether via consent or not can do and many more. By physically I mean data you give out freely when you enter a building and you write down your phone number in a book at the entrance or even Huduma Namba for lack of better example. Building allegedly sell this contact book to advertisers and companies, that is why you get messages/adverts on your phone from companies you have never visited.

Data rights are human rights, the same technology that is connecting us together is the same that is breaking us apart.

According to 2017 Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) statistics, there were an estimated 40.59 million internet users in Kenya in March 2017, representing an internet penetration rate of 89.4%. Social media is widely used in Kenya. Kenya is reported to have over 5 million active daily Facebook users, and 693,000 confirmed active users on Twitter, according to a study by Ogilvy, an advertising and public relations firm. The importance of data protection increases as the amount of data created and stored continues to grow at unprecedented rates.

Article 31 of the Kenyan Constitution specifically protects the right to privacy though Kenya does not currently have a specific data protection law and a specific data protection authority. However, a Data Protection Bill was tabled in Parliament in 2015. The Bill has not yet passed. What is Data Protection - Data Protection is the process of safeguarding important information from corruption, compromise or loss. Kenya is a growing Nation and the realization in the importance and monetary value of data might be the reason why the Data Protection Bill has not yet been passed. In 2016, a draft Cyber Security and Protection Bill originating in the Senate was tabled and read. It was withdrawn in December same year, how fast?
The Goverment of Kenya is at the moment pushing for for a bill to make Huduma Namba compulsary. Kenyans are being boxed in without their knowledge. Instead of it working on the protecting its Citizens and Netizens data . For me am smelling something fishy going on. The Human Rights Commission - National Coalition of Human Rights Defenders - Kenya and Privacy International are collaborating together to bring the Data Bill to law but it can't do this alone. Am sharing this knowledge to you to give you power. Share it to make it powerful so that we can get our data protected because its a human right.

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Documents: Kenya Data Protection Bill 2018 | Cyber Security and Protection Bill 2016