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Namibia

Summary

Law: Draft data protection law ('Draft Bill')

Regulator: There is no general data protection authority.

Summary: Namibia has not enacted legislation that provides for data protection or privacy protections. However, Article 13 of the Constitution of the Republic of Namibia establishes a right to privacy. More recently, in November 2022 a Draft Bill was released, and outlines data processing principles, data subject rights including access and rectification, as well as restrictions on cross border data transfers. Furthermore, the bill requires the appointment of a data protection officer and establishes a supervisory authority responsible for monitoring and enforcing compliance with the Draft Bill.

Insights

Namibia's Ministry of Information and Communication Technology ('MICT') recently published Namibia's draft Data Protection Bill 2022 ('the Bill'). To ensure public participation, the MICT has conducted regional consultations with members of the public. Further, members of the public were invited to submit their inputs and comments to the Bill until 30 November 2022. The Bill is still in the early legislative steps and will have to go through parliamentary processes before it is passed into law.

Melody Musoni, an independent privacy professional, discusses the key provisions of the Bill, highlighting topics, such as data processing principles, data subject rights, and cross-border data transfers.