By Nana Appiah Acquaye, Accra, Ghana
New businesses planning to operate in Ghana would be required to obtain a Data Protection Certificate before engaging in businesses activities in the country.
Ghana’s Commissioner of Data Protection, Patricia Edusei-Poku who revealed this Accra, said both local and foreign businesses are required by law to first register with the Commission and obtain a Data Protection Certificate before they can be registered to operate in Ghana.
According to her existing companies also risk losing their business operating license should they fail to register with the Ghana Data Protection, hence a notification to all license issuing organisations and regulators not to renew license of any company that does not present a Data Protection Certificate as part of their registration requirement.
The Commissioner noted that, in spite of the passage of the Data Protection Act and a directive by President Nana AddoDankwaAkufo-Addo for all public and private organisations to register with the Data Protection Commission, lots of organisations have turned a deaf ear to it.
She said the Commission is no more going to countenance the deliberate disregard for the law, because that disturbing disregard allows organisations to mishandle the data of Ghanaians in their possession and thereby disrespect the actual owners of the data.
Patricia Adusei-Poku argued that state institutions and private companies make profit from the data of individuals in their possession and yet those organisations disrespect the customers and sometimes even mishandle the data.
She said it was time for organisations which benefit from the citizens’ data in their possession to start respecting citizens, and called on Ghanaians to demand to know from organisations which collect their data, how they are protecting that data and to ask for proof of assurance of protection.
