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The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has launched the National Privacy Awareness Campaign with a renewed drive to promote proper use of personal data by individuals and organisations.
Under the campaign, the DPC is embarking on a nationwide public sensitisation programme to educate the public on their rights regarding the responsible use of their data by businesses, organisations and individuals, as well as the data protection legal regime of the country.
The campaign, which is on the theme: “Privacy is Personal”, commences today until the end of the month, and will involve media engagement, community outreaches, and stakeholder conferences.
At the launch of the campaign in Accra yesterday, the Deputy Minister of Communications, Mohammed Adams Supkaru, said it is essential for the country to make data protection a priority to take advantage of and play a meaningful role in the current global artificial intelligence (AI) boom.
According to him, the government had set an ambitious vision of making the country the AI hub of Africa, with data protection at the heart of the initiative.
Data protection, he added, was not just a regulatory framework, but also essential in building trust for businesses that rely on data for informed decisions.
“Data is the fuel of AI, and unless citizens are confident that their personal information is handled responsibly, adoption will falter.
The campaign launch, and the broader work of the Data Protection Commission, is therefore not just about compliance, it is about laying the foundations for Ghana to lead Africa in responsible, ethical, and human-centred AI,” he said.
Mr Supkaru stressed the importance of data to the digital transformation of the country, which he said had led to massive improvements in education, health care, financial services, e-commerce and government services.
“While this presents enormous opportunities, it also brings significant risks if privacy and security are not prioritised.
That is why awareness of rights and obligations under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) is so critical for both citizens and institutions,” he added.
The Executive Director of the DPC, Dr Arnold Kavaarpuo, said the need to enhance data protection had practical importance to the well-being of people, as well as economic growth.
“Imagine a young woman applying for a loan, only to be rejected because her records were mixed up with another person’s due to poor data handling, or a patient whose private medical history is leaked because a hospital failed to secure its systems,” he said.
He explained that data protection involved two things: people taking responsibility for understanding and asserting their rights, and every organisation taking responsibility for protecting the information entrusted in their care.
He announced that the DPC, as part of its mandate since the beginning of this year, had trained over 800 data protection officers to help organisations comply with the law when handling personal data.
Dr Kavaarpuo urged the public to make it their responsibility to ensure that their data was not mishandled by reporting any breach to the Commission for redress.
Under the Data Protection Act 2012 (Act 843), any person who processes personal data has an obligation to ensure that their data does not infringe the privacy rights of the data subject.
Again, the law bars any person from processing personal data except with the prior consent of the data subject, unless the data is authorised by law or it is meant to protect the legitimate interests of the data subject.
Section 95 of Act 843 stipulates that anyone who breaches a law under the Act commits an offence and can be liable to a fine of up to GH¢60,000 and a term of imprisonment not more than 10 years or both.
