In Kenya, the right to privacy is already in jeopardy, but a new amendment to the law is deepening the crisis. It grants new powers to the government to access data from any phone or computer, and introduces hefty penalties for anyone who refuses to comply…
27 January 2021
The ongoing global health crisis has demonstrated with painful clarity the risks posed by digital identity systems that centralize biometric data, health records, and other sensitive personal information. It is essential that governments, development agencies, funders, and all other stakeholders first ask the question #WhyID.…
29 April 2020
The High Court of Kenya has temporarily suspended the implementation of eight clauses of the Security Laws (Amendment) Act of 2014, which restricts the exercise of human rights in Kenya. Access applauds the High Court’s decision in suspending these parts of the law law and urges the Court to thoroughly consider the entire law’s human rights impact in its ultimate assessment. …
7 January 2015
Without warning, Kenyans learned last month that Safaricom, Kenya’s largest telecoms operator, had contracted with the government to provide a new communications and street-level surveillance system. The new system integrates 2,000 video surveillance cameras, video conferencing, digital radios, and a mapping system into a central command center. Worryingly, this contract likely entails many forms of street-level surveillance including license plate readers, facial recognition technology, and real-time tracking across major cities like Nairobi and Mombasa.…
13 June 2014