GDPR and Africa? No way? You are wrong.
You may have noticed a lot of email notifications about updating privacy policies over the last few weeks. Is it such a coincidence that this comes after we all watched the grilling of Mack Zuckerberg at the Senate? In comes the GDPR, General Data Protection Regulation. If you have signed up for any Google products lately, you may also have noticed that they have integrated GDPR into their T&Cs.
But wait, what is GDPR? What are its effects on Africa?
A simple way to understand GDPR is as a law meant to give EU citizens more control over their personal data.
It turns out that GDPR was adopted in the EU in 2016, and member states have a deadline to be compliant by 25th May 2018.
It is no wonder that companies are rushing to beat the deadline.
A question that I had a few weeks ago, especially after spending some time to understand what GDPR is was “how does it affect Africa?"
I left it at that until all the updates in policy emails began to flood my inbox. That was when I decided to find out what GDPR means for African countries.
GDPR and Africa
So it turns out that even African businesses need to comply. Any business that handles any personal data about EU citizens will need to be GDPR compliant.
At this point, I am thinking, “I see you all Kenyan online entrepreneurs, those who do not even have a website, and have been doing well on social media, thus no need for a website.”
I am thinking about all my Kenyan brothers and sisters who serve clients in Europe as virtual assistants, article writers or even web and app developers.
Well, let me pause here and go do some research on whether GDPR affects my business.
I am calling all the Kenyan entrepreneurs. Better be compliant before you find yourself banned.
I will be back to educate you more on how to get compliant, and the consequences of not being compliant.
For now, why not share more in the comments?
Sources:
https://www.zdnet.com/article/gdpr-an-executive-guide-to-what-you-need-to-know/
https://www.itnewsafrica.com/2018/04/african-companies-need-to-get-ready-for-the-gdpr/