Communication Minister Sam Nartey George has raised concerns about the mysterious disappearance of personal data collected from Ghanaians during a recent SIM registration exercise.
Speaking on Joy News PM Express on Tuesday, the Minister admitted that more than two months into his tenure, the data’s whereabouts remain unknown.
“Some private app developer seems to have it,” he said. “You don’t know who. You ask, who has it? They say, well, the private developer who developed the app is the one who had it. The developer says, no, we transmitted it to the telcos.”
That ambiguity, he said, is alarming. “Somebody has it. It’s sitting somewhere. We’re trying to find out where it is,” he said.
The Minister’s admission comes amid growing public concern over Ghana’s digital security and the misuse of citizens’ personal information.
The shocking revelation was that the Data Protection Commission, the statutory agency responsible for protecting privacy, was not involved at all in the data collection or handling process he said.
“They were completely cut out,” he said. “They don’t know…Absolutely not…They played absolutely no role in that process.”
This neglect, he warned, is not only unacceptable but unlawful.
“We have a Data Protection Act,” he said.
“And that’s why I’m saying that when the Attorney General is fully versed with all the information, and he looks at the legislation that we have and what the legislation mandates anyone who processes data to do, it will be a clear decision for him to make.”
According to the Ningo Prampram MP, this case could have serious legal consequences.
“You talk about recklessness,” he said bluntly. “This is the reason why people have questions to answer.”
Though he noted that his time at the Ministry has been less than nine weeks, Sam George acknowledged the urgency of the matter.
“It’s still a work in progress,” he said. “But the questions that remain unanswered are very troubling.”
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