This archive report was first published on 17 September 2019.
On September 17, 2019, the National Assembly Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation, chaired by Hon. William Kisang, conducted a public hearing on the Data Protection Bill, 2019, in County Hall, Parliament Buildings.
The bill, if approved, would introduce a licence fee for online users who make money using the internet, sparking concerns among stakeholders in the online sector.
Amnesty International and Google Kenya were among the stakeholders who submitted their reservations with some clauses of the bill, calling it 'draconian' and arguing that it would disproportionately affect online start-ups.
CODE-IP TRUST Executive Director Alex Gakuru urged the members of parliament to repeal the section, citing the fact that many unemployed youth were surviving through doing business using social media and other online platforms.
"We should put a threshold to determine who is legible to pay the licence fee. Small online businesses like academic writers and those selling clothes via facebook should be allowed to grow," Gakuru submitted.
The stakeholders also raised concerns about the section 33 of the proposal law, which seeks to collect and archive personal data of children for future use.
"All personal data relating to a child collected, processed and or archived must be deleted upon the child becoming an adult unless that information is of best interest to the child," said Google Kenya representative Michael Murungi.
