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Towards Data Protection Law in Ethiopia
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.
... 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]. ...
As machine learning and data science applications grow ever more prevalent, there is an increased focus on data sharing and open data initiatives, particularly in the context of the African continent. Many argue that data sharing can support research and policy design to alleviate poverty, inequality, and derivative effects in Africa. Despite the fact that the datasets in question are often extracted from African communities, conversations around the challenges of accessing and sharing African data are too often driven by nonAfrican stakeholders. These perspectives frequently employ a deficit narratives, often focusing on lack of education, training, and technological resources in the continent as the leading causes of friction in the data ecosystem. We argue that these narratives obfuscate and distort the full complexity of the African data sharing landscape. In particular, we use storytelling via fictional personas built from a series of interviews with African data experts to complicate dominant narratives and to provide counternarratives. Coupling these personas with research on data practices within the continent, we identify recurring barriers to data sharing as well as inequities in the distribution of data sharing benefits. In particular, we discuss issues arising from power imbalances resulting from the legacies of colonialism, ethno-centrism, and slavery, disinvestment in building trust, lack of acknowledgement of historical and present-day extractive practices, and Western-centric policies that are ill-suited to the African context. After outlining these problems, we discuss avenues for addressing them when sharing data generated in the continent.
This engaging and informative historical narrative provides an excellent introduction to the history of Ethiopia from the classical era through the modern age. The acute historical analysis contained in this volume allows readers to critically interrogate shifting global power configurations from the late nineteenth century to the twentieth century, and the related implications in Ethiopia and the Horn of Africa region. Adejumobi identifies a second wave of globalization, beginning in the nineteenth century, which laid the foundation for a highly textured Ethiopian Afromodern twentieth century. The book explores Ethiopia's efforts at charting an independent course in the face of imperialism, World War II, the Cold War and international economic reforms with a focus on the gap between the state's modernization reforms and the citizenry's aspirations of modernity. The book focuses on Ethiopians' efforts to balance challenges related to social, political and economic reforms with a renaissance in the arts, theater, Orthodox Coptic Christianity, Islam and ancient ethnic identities.
The History of Ethiopiapaints a vivid picture of a dynamic and compelling country and region for students, scholars, and general readers seeking to grasp twenty-first century global relations. The work also provides a timeline of events in Ethiopian history, brief biographies of key figures, and a bibliographic essay.
With increasing access to information and communication technologies such as the Internet, Ethiopia has recently taken responsive legislative measures. One such legislative measure is enactment of cybercrime rules as part of the Criminal Code of 2004. These rules penalize three items of computer crimes namely hacking, dissemination of malware and denial of service attacks. The cybercrime rules are however slightly outdated due to changes that have occurred in the field of cybercrime since the enactment of the Code. The surge of new varieties of cybercrimes previously uncovered under the Code and the need to legislate tailored evidentiary and procedural rules for investigation and prosecution of cybercrimes have recently prompted the Ethiopian government to draft modern and comprehensive cybercrime legislation, but the draft law still needs further work on cybercrimes in light of other major legislative developments at regional and national levels. This article closely examines major developments in cybercrime law and practice in Ethiopia since the enactment of the first set of cybercrime rules and proffers recommendations towards a unified cybercrime regime. (c) 2014 Kinfe Micheal Yilma. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
The African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, also known as the Banjul Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, was adopted by the 18th Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the Organization of African Unity (OAU), held in Nairobi in June 1981. Contrary to some expectations, the Charter stayed in limbo for only 5 years. It entered into force on October 21, 1986, after the deposit of the 26th instrument of ratification, the number required by its Article 63(3). By April 16, 1987, there were 33 states parties to the Charter, which makes it the largest regional human rights system in existence.
textbox> Key points
Ethiopia has recognized the right to privacy throughout its brief constitutional history, albeit to different degrees. All Ethiopian Constitutions, including the first written Constitution of 1931, have had provisions dedicated to the right to privacy. Comprehensive privacy safeguards were, however, introduced by the Constitution of 1995, which protects privacy of persons, their home, and correspondences in a detailed manner.
The constitutional guarantees to privacy are furthered in subordinate instruments that refine details of the protection. These fairly robust constitutional guarantees to privacy are, nevertheless, recently being undermined and eroded by the myriad of ill - conceived privacy-unfriendly laws the country has recently introduced and surveillance practices conducted in the absence of any oversight mechanisms.
Recent reports have implicated the government for allegedly undertaking massive surveillances, interception of electronic communications, and even cyberattacks on members of opposition groups and journalists. This article examines the present legal safeguards to data privacy along with major practical challenges and proffers suggestions towards a robust data privacy regime. </sec
In January 1989, in the follow-up to the Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe (the so-called Helsinki process), the United States signed the Vienna Declaration, in which it recognized “that the promotion of economic, social, cultural rights … is of paramount importance for human dignity and for the attainment of the legitimate aspirations of every individual.” To that end, the United States in signing the declaration undertook, inter alia, to guarantee “the effective exercise” of economic, social and cultural rights and to consider acceding to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. These undertakings seem to warrant renewed consideration of proposals that have been made at various times over the past quarter of a century for the United States to ratify the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
This book chapter provides a brief history of information privacy law in the United States from colonial times to the present. It discusses the development of the common law torts, Fourth Amendment law, the constitutional right to information privacy, numerous federal statutes pertaining to privacy, electronic surveillance laws, and more. It explores how the law has emerged and changed in response to new technologies that have increased the collection, dissemination, and use of personal information.
Privacy is one of the most urgent issues associated with information technology and digital media. This book claims that what people really care about when they complain and protest that privacy has been violated is not the act of sharing information itselfâmost people understand that this is crucial to social life âbut the inappropriate, improper sharing of information. Arguing that privacy concerns should not be limited solely to concern about control over personal information, Helen Nissenbaum counters that information ought to be distributed and protected according to norms governing distinct social contextsâwhether it be workplace, health care, schools, or among family and friends. She warns that basic distinctions between public and private, informing many current privacy policies, in fact obscure more than they clarify. In truth, contemporary information systems should alarm us only when they function without regard for social norms and values, and thereby weaken the fabric of social life.
Information and Communication Technology in Ethiopia: Challenges and Prospects from an A2k Perspective
- Aman Assefa
Aman Assefa (2010), Information and Communication Technology in Ethiopia: Challenges and
Prospects from an A2k Perspective, unpublished.
The making of Modern Ethiopia
- Teshale Tibebu
Regulatory Legal Regime on the Protection of Privacy and Personal Information in Ethiopia
- Alebachew Birhanu
Alebachew Birhanu (2009), Regulatory Legal Regime on the Protection of Privacy and Personal
Information in Ethiopia, Master thesis at University of Oslo.
The Meles Mystery: Has Anyone Seen Ethiopia’s Prime Minister Zenawi
- Graham Peebles
Graham Peebles (2012), The Meles Mystery: Has Anyone Seen Ethiopia's Prime Minister Zenawi.
Privacy and Human Rights: an International and Comparative Study, with Special Reference to Developments in Information Technology
- James Michael
James Michael (1994), Privacy and Human Rights: an International and Comparative Study, with
Special Reference to Developments in Information Technology, Dartmouth UNESCO
Publishing.
International Differences in Information Privacy Concerns: A Global Survey of Consumers, Columbia Business School
- S Bellman
- Others
S Bellman and others (2004), International Differences in Information Privacy Concerns: A Global
Survey of Consumers, Columbia Business School, 20 Information Society No.5.
Neethling’s Law of Personality
- J Neethling
J Neethling et al. (2005), Neethling's Law of Personality, Butterworth Durban.
Documents Report of the Office of United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights on 'the right to privacy in the digital age
- Teshale Tibebu
Teshale Tibebu (1995), The making of Modern Ethiopia:1896-1974, The Red See Press 1995.
Documents
Report of the Office of United Nation High Commissioner for Human Rights on 'the right to privacy in the digital age' (2014), A/HR/C/27/37.
The World Bank Group (2015), Ethiopia: Poverty Assessment, Report No.AUS6744.
Freedom House (2011), Freedom on the Net 2011: Ethiopia.