PRIVACY AND  DATA  PROTECTION:  THE  EFFECTIVENESS  OF  A  GOVERNMENT  REGULATION APPROACH IN DEVELOPING NATIONS, USING NIGERIA AS A CASE

CHAPTER ONE

 

1.0   INTRODUCTION

 

This Chapter looks on the background of the Research topic and prevailing factors that trigger the researcher to conduct research on that particular topic. The chapter guides the Researcher to concentrate on the objectives and the significance of the whole study.

 

The Chapter commence with the background of the research problem which explains what the topic is all about so that the reader could be aware of the topic, then the statement of the problem that guided the researcher. More over the chapter has the objectives of the study, research questions, significance of the study, scope of the study, research methodology and limitation and delimitations of thestudy.

 

1.1   Background of the Problem

 

Tanzania as a Country, embarked through several attempts to establish the National identification system in order to create the National population register and the National Database where the vital information of all Tanzanians, Refugee and the Legal Residents can be easily and promptly obtained. The desire and motivation behind the initiatives above is two folds;

 

First is the impact of the interstate Intelligence committees of the East African states of Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda and Zambia way back in 1969, when met in Lusaka Zambia as one of the measures and quest to curb illegal migration activities and foster security at large within the region . By then Kenya and Zambia were already issuing registration/identity Cards to their respective Nationals¹.

The first major initiative on the side of Tanzania on implementing the resolution of 1969 was the enactment of Registration and Identification of Persons Act in 1986²  in order to now register and identify Citizens, Refugees and Legal residents³ at one time present in the United Republic of Tanzania. However, this Act was never enforced until 2011 which made it one of the few legislation not to be gazzetted for longerperiod.

 

The second one is the influences of other external forces towards that will affect or has so far affected United Republic of Tanzania. The terrorist attacks, first in Dar es Salaam and Nairobi in 1998, in New York and Washington on September 11, 2001, has prompted the need to streamline vulnerable systems in the third world environment like Tanzania. In the aftermaths of these terrorist attacks, identity has taken on a new prominence in Countries around the world⁴ .

 

The actual implementation of National identification system was never a reality in Tanzania due to budgetary constraints since 1969 until 2006 when the Government decided to conduct the feasibility study and came with a very comprehensive Feasibility Study Report which attempted to showcase on how to effectively

 

1 Gotham International Ltd, (2006), “ Feasibility Study Report for National Identification and Registration of persons Program for the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania”, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at P.48

2 Cap 36, R.E 2012 of the Tanzanian Laws

3 See S.10(1), Ibid

4 Gotham International Ltd, (2006), “ Feasibility Study Report for National Identification and Registration of persons Program for the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania”, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, at P.49

introduce and implement the National identification system in Tanzania⁵ . The Feasibility study then proposed the establishment of an Institution which would implement the National identification system. This was then followed by the establishment of the National Identification Authority (NIDA)⁶ in the year 2008 which finally took the role of the implementing the registration and identification of persons Act to date.

 

In nutshell, immediately after its establishment, NIDA has taken untold initiatives to establish the infrastructure for the implementation of National ID system which amongst others, includes creating National population Register, creating various registration centres in the Country and has since 2012 registering and identifying Citizens, Refugees and Legal Resident in Dar es Salaam and Morogoro Regions⁷. Up to the end of 2012, NIDA has also successfully registered almost all Government Employees residing in the Dar es Salaam region and started issuing them with Identity Card immediately after the launching of the first Identity Card by the President of the United Republic of Tanzania and finally making the dream  tangible.⁸

 

At this stage where NIDA has managed to register and issue to all Government Workers⁹ with National Identity cards and have so registered all Dar es Salaam

 

5 Ibid, at P.49

6 National Identification Authority of Tanzania was established by virtue of Article 36 of the Constitution of the United Republic of Tanzania of 1977, under G.N 122 of 2008

7 See www.nida.go.tz

8 The first National Identity Card was issued to the President of the United Republic of Tanzania on 7^th February,2013

9 See http://m.dailynews.co.tz/index.php/local-news/15482-muhimbili-employees-get-national-id-cards NIDA distributed National ID Cards to about 2000 MuhimbiliRefferal Hospital as part of the initiative to provide Government Employees with the National Identity Cards

Residents to date, it is now undeniable fact that there is an immense amount of information extracted from the people within this Jurisdiction, where Identity cards are now in the wallets and handbags of various people in Tanzania which call for an effective mechanisms to protect such information from any abuse or improperuse.

This therefore calls for the need of Data protection initiatives. Privacy concerns has not been an exclusive matter to Tanzania at times of introducing or implementing National identification systems, but a common place to other countries around the world. In other jurisdictions, in Britain for example, it has been argued asfollows;

“ … Alongside this concern for the possible constraints on civil rights or on democratic political involvement is another, for personal privacy. Many opponents of ID cards feel that they constitute a further unwarranted means whereby alien agencies may intrude or invade a personal sphere. The problem is that personal data may circulate more freely when an ID card system is in place, simply because, without careful regulation, the channels are that much more open.

 The British Data Protection Act gives only limited protection against the unauthorised disclosure of information from a computer file to other persons or organisations. Nearly all local authorities already sell copies of the Electoral Register to commercial bodies, and it was envisaged that the football ID system would do the same, so it would appear that this fear is justified. ”¹⁰ .

 

10 Lyon David, “British Identity Cards: The unpalatable Logic of European Membership? at P.383.

 

1.2   Statement of the Problem

 

In Tanzania of today, registration of Citizens, Refugees and Legal Residents is inevitable. The Law requires each one at the age of eighteen to register himself with the National Identification Authority (NIDA) so as to get the National Identity card. As explained in the preceding part of this Chapter , this exercise results into the extraction of immense Information from all persons in Tanzania which now calls for another measure to protect them from any sort of abuse with the idea of privacy in mind.

 

It has been further stated that, the long term vision towards the design and development of National ID is that The National ID must provide the foundation to position itself to participate in the e-Government information exchange Networks. The National ID system is part of a larger vision that will further enable integration with other national wide Governmental and Administration systems as well as be the starting point for secure access and usage of forthcoming e-Government services in Tanzania¹¹ . The Spirit of the e-Government Information Exchange Network is to facilitate a sharing of common systems and Infrastructure to provide for optimal utilization of resources with increased efficiency¹² .

 

The above vision clearly emphasize the emergence of a situation where NIDA would act as Central Unit to enable integration of various Government and other Administrative and private businesses to work together. This may happen for example, when an individual applies for personal Loan from a Bank, the latter may

11 Gotham International Ltd, (2006),op.cit, at P.104

12 Ibid, at P.105

enquire from NIDA for the genuineness of the information that this individual has submitted to the Bank.

Therefore, this state of affair creates a need for a study to assess the existing Legal framework providing for the Data protection and privacy issues, if any, and identify the lacunas and access the implications of the said lacunas on Data Protection Legal Regime to the current situation in Tanzania where the National wide exercise of registering and identifying people has already taken charge, and recommend accordingly.

1.3   Research Objectives

 

The researcher will be guided by the following General and Specific objectives:

1.3.1          General Objective

 

The Main objective of this research is to examine the existing Data Protection Legal Framework regime in Tanzania in connection with the registration and identification of persons exercise in Tanzania.

 

1.3.2    Specific Objectives

 Specific objectives of this research include:

 

• To identify lacunas/gaps in the entire Legal Framework for Data Protection in Tanzania.
• To assess implication of the gaps in the Data protection Legal Framework in Tanzania.
• Recommend ways of improving the Data Protection Legal Framework Regime in Tanzania.

 

a)              Research Questions

 

The research seeks to answer following general and specific questions:

 

General: To what extent does the existing Data Protection Legal Framework Regime protect the Data Subjects whom are registered withNIDA?

Specific: What are the lacunas/gaps in the existing Data Protection Legal Framework regime in protection of Data Subjects registered withNIDA?

What are the implications of the shortcomings in the existing Data Protection Legal Framework regime in protection of Data Subjects registered with NIDA?

 

b)             Significance of the Study

 

Conclusion and recommendation to be drawn from this study include the following significance;

1. Analyze existing laws, identify lacunas/gaps and advise the Tanzania Government and Tanzania Identification Authority on how to improve the existing Policy, Laws and Regulations in improving Data Protection Legal Framework.
2. The Findings of the Research will be useful input to Law Makers, Academicians, Potential Researchers and other actors dealing with identification and registration of persons, privacy matters and Data protection issues at large. It will enable National Identification Authority (NIDA) to better protect its Databases and general information during interfacing activities with other stakeholder. The Study will shade light on this aspect.

 

1.4               Research Design and Methodology

 

1.6.1    Area of Study

 

The researcher has chosen the National Identification Authority (NIDA) as the case study for the research for the following reasons:

1. It is the only Government Institution mandated to handle all registration and identification of persons and therefore has all necessary information regarding Registration and Identification laws, policy and management of National Identificationsystem.
2. It is an Authority which has upper hand regarding enactment and amendment of policy and regulations relating to registration and identification of persons in Tanzania.

• Geographically it is convenient for the Researcher to collect data since the Researcher resides in Dar esSalaam

 

1.6.2    Research Data

 

All kind of data primary, secondary and tertiary data has been collected in order to get good composition for the research.

 

1.6.2.1    Primary Data

 

Primary data were collected through observation of the various activities related to registration and identification of persons in Tanzania.

 

1.6.2.2    Secondary Data

 

These data were collected from the Legal Directorate and Directorate of Identity Card Management which deals with the registration and Identification of persons. The Researcher expects to receive data through available documentation.

 

1.6.2.3    Tertiary Data

 

These are Data that have been obtained from National Identification Authority of Tanzania (NIDA) publicized articles such as Authority Establishment Instrument, Authority profile, Feasibility Study Report and through their website (www.nida.go.tz). The available data will help the researcher to write the research paper with quality data and also minimize the time consumption during data collection.

 

1.6.3    Data Gathering Methods and Techniques

 

Various methods of data collection were deployed so as to get the best information which has enabled the researcher to analyze the data. Those methods include; Literature review, Observation and documentary review.

 

1.6.3.1    Documentary Review

 

Authority Documents has been reviewed which will assist in clarification of some data. Documents relating to Data Protection in the National Identification Regime will be reviewed.

 

1.6.3.2    Observation and Informal Discussion

 

The Researcher has also used the observation technique in the case study in order to get data. This will help in situation clarification.

 

1.6.3.3    Literature Review

 

Literature regarding Data Protection in the National Identification Regime was reviewed and important information retrieved has assisted in explanation of finding.

 

1.6.4    Validity and Reliability

 

A combination of different methods such as interview, questionnaires, documentary review and observation in collecting information has been employed to back up and complement on each other to bridge the weakness of each method.

 

1.6.5    Data Analysis Procedure

 

Both qualitative and quantitative data analysis technique has been used to analyze data collected.

 

a.             Scope of the Study/Research

 

The study has analysed existing Policy, Laws and regulations in support of Data Protection Legal Framework and how the said laws, policy and regulations can be improved to protect Data so far collected in the National Identification system in Tanzania.

 

This study will centre on the National Identification system at large and the National Identification Authority Headquarters at Dar es Salaam as the case study.

 

b.      Limitation of the Study

 

Putting into consideration limited time, finance and response of the Public to the Questionnaire, the Researcher faced few challenges likely limited the effectiveness of the research to a more satisfactory standard.

 

c.       Delimitations of the Study

 

The study was confined in National Identification Authority of Tanzania. Data has been collected from the staff of the Legal Directorate, ID Cards Management directorate and Information systems Management Directorate. Also, the research data collected will be those relating to Data Protection and privacy issues in the National Identification system

PRIVACY AND  DATA  PROTECTION:  THE  EFFECTIVENESS  OF  A  GOVERNMENT  REGULATION APPROACH IN DEVELOPING NATIONS, USING NIGERIA AS A CASE

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