With the advance of technology in Kenya and the world in general, there were concerns over how citizens could protect their privacy and data. In November 2019, President Kenyatta signed the Data Protection Bill into law. The Act gave effect to Article 31 (c) and (d) of the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 which guarantees every person the right to privacy.
The new data law established the office of the Data Commissioner and gave guidelines and requirements for the protection of personal data, including how it was collected, processed and stored by both public and private entities. There are also provisions of how long the data is kept, whether or not it can be transferred outside the country, a citizen’s right of how his/her information is handled and right to ask for the deletion and/or editing of incorrect data. It further outlines key principles that will govern data processing assigns duties to data controllers and data processors.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) has announced that it is now hiring a Data Protection Commissioner in accordance with section 5 of The Data Protection Act, 2019. The position will be a six-year non-renewable term. For an appointment to this position, a candidate must hold a degree from a university recognized in Kenya in any areas of Data Science, Law, Information Technology or any other related field. Interested candidates should also hold a masters degree, have the knowledge and relevant and relevant experience of not less than ten years and meet the requirements of Chapter six of the Constitution.
Qualified applicants are encouraged to send their applications before 14th April 2020 by 5.00 pm East African Time. Here is the full Job Description.