Kampala, 1^st/03/2019; Unwanted Witness welcomes the move by President Yoweri Museveni to assent onto the much needed Data protection and privacy Bill,2018 into law. The new law regulates collection, storage and use of personal data by different entities including government agencies, corporations and private institutions operating within and outside Uganda.

The law operationalizes Article 27 (2) of the 1995 Uganda constitution which guarantees citizens’ right privacy. It stipulates that, “no person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of that person’s home, correspondence, communication or other property.”

 “Having a data protection law for Uganda is positive step towards recognizing and upholding citizens’ constitutional right to privacy that has for decades been violated, yet privacy enables the enjoyment of other rights including freedom of expression, opinion, opinion and access to information,” says Dorothy Mukasa, Chief Executive Office, Unwanted Witness Uganda.

She commended the efforts of all stakeholders involved in the policy process and urged the relevant ministry to fast track formulation of regulations for law enforcement.

Section 14 (3) of the Acts of Parliament Act, Cap.2, confers power on a minister to make a statutory instrument to bring an Act into force, the power to make the instrument may be exercised even though the Act has not come into force.

Unwanted Witness commits to continue working with all allies to analyse the law to ensure that it meets the necessary, proportionate and legitimate principles of data protection as well as international best practices on human rights.