Data collection agencies to risk losing govt contracts over license

All firms mandated to obtain data protection license before operations begin

Data Protection Week being observed from January 24

Contractors to obtain data protection license


The Data Protection Commission in collaboration with the Public Procurement Authority is cautioning businesses to obtain data protection licenses as they may not be able to lobby for government contracts.

Executive Director of the Commission, Patricia Adusei Poku, said this new directive comes at a time where the country is embarking on a digitalization drive, hence the need to protect the data of clients and the general public.

Addressing journalists at a press conference in Accra on Wednesday, Patrick Poku pointed that it is standard practice for firms that deal with data collection to obtain a license from the commission.

“We are working with other regulatory agencies and government authorities to begin demanding a data protection license from contractors. The Public Procurement Authority is collaborating with us on that to ensure that all contractors have license as a mandate before giving any project” she noted.

Adusei Poku also announced that Ghana has been elected as President for the Africa Data Protection Agencies, a development that positions the country as a standard in the industry.


Data Protection Week

As part of efforts to boost Ghana’s digitalization drive, the Data Protection Commission will embark on its Annual Data Protection Awareness week under the theme “Transparency, Trust and Transformation in Digitization.”

Additionally, the Commission officially back in October 2020 launched a new Registration and Compliance Software RegSys under the theme: “Enabling Transparency towards Trustworthy Transformation.”

RegSys has been designed to streamline the registration and renewal process and improve user experience for Data Controllers and Processors.

Meanwhile, according to Section 97 of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843), a “Data Controller incorporated or established after the commencement of this Act shall be required to register as a Data Controller within twenty (20) days of the commencement of business”.

“A Data Controller in existence at the commencement of this Act shall be required to register as a Data Controller within three months after the commencement of this Act,” portions of the Act explains. Read Full Story