By Kimani Tirus….
With increase in number of people delving into social media coupled with its lure and glamour, many novice and seasoned users of social media are finding themselves easy prey to cyber bullies and online fraudsters.
Many social media users are navigating social media with no or little knowledge of precautionary measures to safeguard themselves against cyberbullying and the safety of their data.
This has exposed them to cyberbullying as well as intrusion into their private lives, while others have exposed themselves to online fraudulent activities, leading to the loss of millions of hard-earned dollars
With novelty and a lack of knowledge of how to navigate safely into social media, many online fraudsters are luring many users to steal their data by uploading appealing links which, when opened, expose the personal data to the online fraudsters.
What worries is the extent to which this online fraudulent activity has made private and public institutions which are supposed to be well secured prey to cyber-criminal activities.
Apart from the danger of personal data getting exposed to online fraudsters unwittingly, personal data could also be misused by data controllers who could have legitimately or illegitimately obtained our data.
The genuinely gathered personal data could also be in danger of leaking through systems being hacked as well as data controllers deliberately giving out the personal and sensitive data.
Hence, genuinely collected data from data subjects by data controllers could be in danger of being misused.
To safeguard personal data from being misused by the data controllers and data processors, the government of Kenya in 2019 established the Office of Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) whose mandate is to safeguard personal data and sensitive data from inappropriateness by entities or persons.
During a recent forum to sensitise members of public on protection of their data, hthe field in Ol Kalou, Nyandarua County, ODPC advised the public on their rights as data subjects as far as collection of their data by the data controller or persons is concecontrollersKwanya, one of the facilitators at the forum organized by the ODPC, said the ODPC provides a framework through which the data collected by any organisation or person, who are the data controllers, is well protected.
On the data collected, Kwanya observed that no data should be transferred out of Kenya without the knowledge of ODPC drawing reference to recent collection of Kenyans data by world’s bit coin.
The facilitator highlighted the importance of data protection, citing that protection of personal data protects individual and family privacy, preventing misuse of the personal data when online as well as preventing fraud.
His counterpart Mr. AbdullahI Ali sensitised the participants on their rights as data subjects which include right to be informed why their data is being collected, right to rectification of the data given if it is inaccurate, right to consent as well as right to object collection of their data among others.
However, Ali clarified that some rights, such as right to be informed, are absolute while others are limited or not absolute for instance right to consent.
“Some institutions are mandated by law to get information, hence they may not rely on the consent of the data subject. However, such institutions must ensure the data collected is secured as outlined in data protection laws,” noted Ali.
In case of inappropriate use of data by data controller, a data subject is supposed to report and lodge a complaint to the ODPC through their website or visit their nearest office.
