New data protection law coming- PM Phillips

Last Updated on Sunday, 20 September 2020, 21:56 by Denis Chabrol

Prime Minister Mark Phillips said a law would be be drafted to protect electronic information being provided by citizens to the government and money has been already set aside to do this in the 2020 National Budget.

“The policy work would continue through the end of this year with the development of draft legislation and explanatory memoranda for ever increasing electronic information being provided by our citizens and being utilized by the government’s other sectors,” he said.

Brigadier Phillips, in making the announcement in his contribution to the budget debate, also announced that the functionality of several types of electronic forms are being tested.

Noting that one of the significant effects of COVID-19 is the considerable growth of citizen-related information  being stored and processed Online, the Prime Minister stressed the importance of data protection. “It is critical, therefore, that legislation and supporting regulations to govern access and utilisation of same,” he said.

Government is planning to establish  an additional 200 fully-functioning Information Communication and Technology (ICT) hubs and government services to an additional 1,000 Guyanese.

The Prime Minister announced that government was  drafting a National ICT plan which would be open to public comment and stakeholder consultations. E-Commerce legislation, he said, was also in the pipeline and would also be open for public scrutiny.