Malawi’s digital transformation drive faces risks without data protection legislation

Malawi is in full pursuit of its digital transformation drive which includes the construction of a National Data Center with the collaboration of Chinese firm Huawei, the implementation of a biometric national ID scheme and a biometric SIM card identification exercise. As such, it is prudent for the country’s government to put in place mechanisms that provide sufficient and comprehensive data protection guarantees.

This is the caution from the Association for Progressive Communications (APCA) in a report which is part of a series of recently updated articles on digital rights in Southern Africa. The APC is a network of dozens of civil society organizations from at least 70 countries advocating the responsible use of the internet and digital technologies.

The report mentions that while these digital transformation programs unfold in Malawi, no intentional measures are seen to have been taken to put in place a comprehensive data protection legislation aimed at building citizens’ trust in digital projects that require the collection of huge amounts of personal data such as the country’s biometric national identity scheme which it implemented with stunning speed and a mandatory biometric SIM card registration exercise which has been on since 2018.

The APC asserts that while investments in digital schemes is a good thing for the country, “such investments necessitate concurrent commitments to robust data security, including the establishment of comprehensive data protection laws, a facet currently absent in Malawi’s governance.”

It points out that such a data security architecture is generally important for Malawi, and even particularly so given the controversy and allegations of state surveillance that have trailed digital transformation projects fronted by Huawei in some African countries.

Particularly, the report urges the Malawian government to put in place legislation that gives meaning to Section 21 of the country’s constitution which highlights citizens’ right to personal data protection. This, it says, should be done by the government taking steps to enact the Data Protection and Privacy Bill which has been in existence since 2021.

As part of its digital rights advocacy publications, the APC has made similar recommendations for other Southern African countries such as Botswana where it urged the government to strengthen its data protection arsenal, and Eswatini where it advised that the implementation of a national digital ID system must be done with sufficient attention paid to data protection and privacy.

The Malawi Electoral Commission recently reiterated its plan to make the national ID a compulsory proof of identity for an upcoming biometric voter registration exercise scheduled to begin next month.

Article Topics

Africa  |  biometrics  |  data protection  |  digital identity  |  Huawei  |  legislation  |  Malawi  |  national ID  |  SIM card registration