Data Commissioner urges public to report personal data breaches.

KNA by Sitna Omar 

The Data Commissioner Immaculate Kassait has urged members of the public to safeguard their personal data from misuse by filing complaints to her office in the event of breach of data.

Ms Kassait said the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) which was established pursuant to the Data Protection Act of 2019, is mandated to regulate the processing of personal data, to protect the privacy of individuals and to establish the legal and institutional framework to protect personal data. 

Personal data entails an individual's name, physical address, email address and anything that identifies a person. 

As a data regulatory office, ODPC oversees the investigation of cases of data breach filed by data subjects, who are the individuals who can be identified by personal data, and establishes the facts surrounding the breach before getting the responsible data processor or controller to account for the same.

"One can file the complaints through official channels and after investigations have been carried out and we have established that there was violation of one's right, then we can take the necessary action as an office," she said.

There are different avenues to channel complaints to the ODPC, including the ODPC's website (www.odpc.go.ke), in person filing of complaint and through the office's email address (info@odpc.go.ke) 

It is only after an investigation has been completed and a complaint is substantiated that the amount to be compensated to the afflicted party can be reached at a maximum of Sh500, 000.

The Data Commissioner, speaking at St. Paul Ligisa Secondary School in Karachuonyo before flagging off the ODPC awareness campaign roadshow caravan, said it was important to create awareness among members of the public on the role of ODPC in the lives of Kenyan citizens in terms of data protection. 

She also said the public needs to understand their rights as data subjects, the importance of personal data and the various ways to ensure the safety of their data.

Ms Kassait noted that the obligation of her office is to protect these rights which include access, restricted processing, erasure, right to rectification of data among others. 

Accompanied by her Deputy Commissioner Oscar Otieno and Edmond Odera from Kisumu ODPC regional office, she stressed the importance of strengthening issues pertaining to consent, citing that data has gone beyond data protection.

The commissioner warned artificial intelligence users to be wary in their operations and ensure they use data ethically adding, "Whether by default or by design, always safeguard data belonging to the data subject."