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Towards Data Protection Law in Ethiopia

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Abstract

The Constitution of the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia has recognized the right to privacy as a fundamental human right. Concomitantly, the advancement of information and communication technologies has become a major threat to this constitutional right. As the country increases access to the broadband internet, the right is increasingly being threatened. Regardless of privacy concerns, the country does not have a legally binding comprehensive data protection law. As a result, the country relies on the existing laws that are found in different pieces of legislation. But, the existing laws are found inadequate to address the challenges of privacy-threatening information technologies. Knowing the inadequacy of the existing laws, the country has drafted a comprehensive data protection law, but awaits for parliamentary deliberation and approval. Thus, the purpose of this chapter is to explore how far the existing laws address the challenges of ICT–born-privacy invasions, and discuss the content of the draft data protection law. In view of this, the discussion first tries to link the concept of privacy with the political context and the attitude of the society. It then highlights some privacy related legal provisions of different legislation, and the draft data protection law. Finally, it provides the reasons why the country needs a comprehensive data protection law.

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... Such findings, even shared in aggregate, can reveal information on the community as a whole. While notions of privacy often focus on the individual [52,65], there is growing awareness that collective identity is also important within many African communities, and that sharing aggregate information about communities can also be regarded as a privacy violation [45,89]. ...
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Incl. bibl. notes, index.
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Information and Communication Technology in Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects from an A2k Perspective
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Aman Assefa (2010), Information and Communication Technology in Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects from an A2k Perspective, unpublished.
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