Digital ID law now active, but data protection act still not operational

Last Updated on Wednesday, 1 April 2026, 21:44 by Writer

The Digital Identity Card Act (DICA) came into operation on Tuesday, more than two years after that legislation was passed, but the related 2023 Data Protection Act (DPA) is yet to come into force because the requisite commencement order has not been issued.

Issued by Prime Minister Mark Phillips, the DICA Commencement Order was published in the Official Gazette on March 26 and named on March 31 as the date on which the law took effect.

Despite the failure of the government to do so before, ministries and government departments over the past several months had been encouraging public servants to register for the digital identification card.

The legal publication, Sidebar Guyana, by Attorney-at-Law Brenden Glasford points out that what seems to be little known is the fact that the DICA and the DPA are “intrinsically linked and that a failure to commence DPA affects DICA’s legality.”

“Two fracture points can be found in DICA because of the non commencement of the DPA. First the fact that the Commissioner who has the responsibility over DICA is a creation of the DPA. If the DPA is not yet commenced what power does a statutory appointee have to operate, if the law creating that position is not yet in force?

The second is that DICA requires implementation of safeguards in accordance with the DPA, with that legislation not in force safeguards can effectively be forgotten as unenforceable,” states Sidebar Guyana.

That online publication says that on a business front, an enforceable data protection law is an important aspect of determining if there is digital rule of law or if business operators can just do what they like with data collected.

The Guyana government is currently encouraging Guyanese 18 years and older to register online to receive the GY$100,000 cash grant.

Information to be provided to the cash registration platform, which is being managed by the National Data Management Authority (NDMA), includes your personal data, picture and bank account information.

Several commercial banks are also accepting online registration for opening bank accounts.

About 70,000 Guyanese have so far registered at the online portal, www.cashgrant.gov.gy, to receive their cash grants by bank transfer and not cheque.