The Data Protection Commission on Monday began an operation in Accra to clamp down on organisations for various forms of breaches of the Data Protection Act 2012 (ACT 843).
The Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) in part, sets out the rules and principles governing the collection, use, disclosure and care for your personal data or information by a data controller or processor.
With assistance from the police, the joint team picked up representatives of the North Industrial Area office of Hisense Group, Mawarko Fast Food Abelemkpe branch and Agyabeng and Akarsi and Co Law Firm at Cantonments.
The companies in addition to Bemuah Royal Hospital, have since been cited for failing to register with the commission while processing personal data contrary to Section 56 of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843).
Similarly, Quick Credit and Investment Micro Credit Head Office in Osu, was cited for issuing threats to customers, harassing, naming and shaming them for defaulting on their loan obligations to the company.
Bemuah Royal Hospital in East Legon on its part was directed to appear at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) at the Ghana Police Headquarters for questioning.
The Executive Director of the DPC, Ms Patricia Adusei-Poku, said the exercise was to pick up non-complying persons and kick-start the prosecution processes to meet the full expectations of Ghanaians.
She explained that the DPC had undertaken several sensitisation exercises to ensure all data controllers were made aware of the need to obtain licenses from the DPC adding that "we have engaged them through the media, seminars, road shows between from 2018 and we have even sent letters to data controllers reminding them of their mandate."
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She added that the DPC had notified over 250 non-complying data controllers of their mandate to protect the data of individuals in their possessions and they had failed to do so hence the enforcement exercise to pick them for questioning and later prosecution.
"Those people we will visit, have had contacts with us and others have been brought on our radar by unsatisfied customers or ordinary Ghanaians reporting them to us. So, we must take that action to get them to comply with the ACT 843," she stated.
The Director, Regulatory and Compliance at the DPC, Mr Quintin Akrobotu, said the enforcement exercises was to bring to book Ultimate Decision Makers, heads of institutions who have neglected their legal responsibilities and or have defaulted.
