The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner has grown teeth. It has issued fines totalling Sh8,3750,000 against a mobile credit lender, a school and a nightclub.
The lender should have sought permission from the borrower before aggressively demanding repayment. The nightclub should have sought permission before using a photo of a reveller. And the school should not publish photos of pupils without permission from the parents.
It is right and proper to protect personal data and maintain privacy but the measures required have to remain practical.
For instance, if a newspaper takes a photo of a street or school sports day to illustrate an article, it is not practically possible to contact every person in that photo for written permission.
If this privacy rule is strictly enforced, it will result in an effective blackout of events.
The Data Protection Commissioner needs to show a bit more flexibility.
Any photo taken in a public place, including nightclubs, should be allowed for publication without permission so long as it is not a close-up portrait.
Anyone who borrows money should accept that measures will be taken to collect it. And schools should be allowed to publish photos of pupils if it is stated in their prospectus.
Quote of the day: "Stop quoting laws, we carry weapons."
Pompey
The Roman general was born on September 29, 106 BC
