Advertisement

Jamaicans urged to safeguard personal data

00:00
00:00
00:00
Information Commissioner Celia Barclay
By Kimone Witter    
 
Jamaicans are being urged to safeguard the personal data they disclose to service providers.
 
Information Commissioner Celia Barclay says customers have the right to refuse to provide information that is requested, if deemed irrelevant.
 
Ms. Barclay says businesses should only collect personal information that is necessary to the services being sought.
 
"If you have a different purpose you again have to get the person's consent to get more data or to use the data for that purpose. So we encourage data subjects, individuals doing business, become aware of your rights and start asking questions," she urged.  
 
Ms. Barclay said there is need for greater education and cultural change among service providers.
 
"Our businesses also have to learn that you have to become more responsive to your customers. I'll give you a very quick and simple example. I've gone to a medical office for a procedure, being asked to fill out a form. On that form it asks for all my personal details and then it proceeds to ask for details of your spouse, details of your employer. These things have nothing at all to do with the service I went for. I asked why is it necessary? No explanation could be provided. I did not complete that section of the form. I proceeded to get my service," she shared, as she appealed for people, as data subjects, to "start holding our controllers accountable to us because it is from accountability that their sense of responsibility will come." 
 
Ms. Barclay was speaking Thursday on TVJ's Smile Jamaica. This week is being observed as Data Privacy Week.
 
Jamaica's Data Protection Act, 2020 came into effect on December 1, 2023.
 
Data controllers facing challenges
 
In the meantime, Information Commissioner Celia Barclay said data controllers are still facing a challenge in meeting the requirements under the Data Protection Act 2020.
 
"It also requires certain knowledge and expertise because the ways in which we process personal data are so complex that the average controller may not even understand where the risks are, what the mechanisms are to put in place. They might not even understand the full scope and extent of their own processes and so sometimes it requires help that is hard to identify and engage. So for that reason, persons are not necessarily where they should be in terms of compliance but our emphasis is on taking steps to get there." 
 
The first registration period for data controllers with the Office of the Information Commissioner was from December 1, 2023 to November 30, 2024.
 
Ms. Barclay said her office is mindful of the effort and costs associated with becoming compliant with the law. But she urged data controllers to develop a plan.


comments powered by Disqus
More Stories
Most Popular
Urban planning expert says Portmore not ready...
Scorpions suffer second straight loss in...
Dehring supports Sammy's appointment as...
Built with IBM watsonx
The chat window has been closed