{"id":2164,"date":"2023-12-08T16:12:00","date_gmt":"2023-12-08T16:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/data-privacy\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-data-protection-concerns"},"modified":"2023-12-08T16:12:00","modified_gmt":"2023-12-08T16:12:00","slug":"kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ddi.mohflo.net\/index.php\/2023\/12\/08\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns\/","title":{"rendered":"Kenyan Digital Identity System Shelved Over Data Protection Concerns"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/eu-images.contentstack.com\/v3\/assets\/blt6d90778a997de1cd\/bltd139f44f8a069244\/654e39d4199e19040a0cddfd\/kenyan_flag_code_Mykhailo_Polenok_Alamy.jpg?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"ff-og-image-inserted\"><\/div>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Due to the lack of any data-protection impact assessments done on it, <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cyberattacks-data-breaches\/cyber-attacks-on-kenya-drop-in-third-quarter\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenya<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"> will not be launching a digital identification system this year after all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Kenya&#8217;s High Court paused the rollout of the &#8220;Maisha Namba&#8221; system, which was due to encompass digital ID cards, unique personal identifiers, and a national population register, according to <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.wearetech.africa\/en\/fils-uk\/news\/tech\/kenya-high-court-suspends-digital-id-citing-data-protection-concerns\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" rel=\"noopener\">media reports<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">. Local privacy and human rights groups said that the collection of biometric and biographical data to underpin the system was obtained unlawfully, that there was no legal foundation for the digital identity system, and that the rapid rollout of the of Maisha Namba dismissed data-security considerations.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">In particular, lobbyists at the <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.k24tv.co.ke\/news\/court-suspends-issuance-of-digital-ids-123369\/\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" rel=\"noopener\">Katiba Institute said<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"> Maisha Namba &#8220;threatens to violate the right to privacy and the right to public participation of millions of <\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/cybersecurity-operations\/kenya-initiates-public-sector-digital-skills-training-no-mention-of-cyber\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"ContentText-BodyTextChunk ContentText-BodyTextChunk_link\" rel=\"noopener\">Kenyans<\/a><\/span><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">.&#8221;<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">The system is set to be reviewed again by the High Court in February.<\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"ContentParagraph ContentParagraph_align_left\" data-testid=\"content-paragraph\"><span class=\"ContentText ContentText_variant_bodyNormal\" data-testid=\"content-text\">Maisha Namba follows another proposed digital ID program, Huduma Namba, which received similar criticisms over data privacy and was eventually dropped.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.darkreading.com\/data-privacy\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-data-protection-concerns\">Source<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Due to the lack of any data-protection impact assessments done<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":2165,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[809],"class_list":["post-2164","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-dark-reading"],"featured_image_urls":{"full":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=2560%2C1696&ssl=1",2560,1696,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?resize=150%2C150&ssl=1",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=300%2C199&ssl=1",300,199,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1",640,424,true],"large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=640%2C424&ssl=1",640,424,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=1536%2C1017&ssl=1",1536,1017,true],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=2048%2C1356&ssl=1",2048,1356,true],"chromenews-featured":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?fit=1024%2C678&ssl=1",1024,678,true],"chromenews-large":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?resize=825%2C575&ssl=1",825,575,true],"chromenews-medium":["https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/ddi.mohflo.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/12\/kenyan-digital-identity-system-shelved-over-data-protection-concerns-scaled.jpg?resize=590%2C410&ssl=1",590,410,true]},"author_info":{"display_name":"Dark 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