Gov’t addresses concerns raised over data safety ahead of Maisha Card launch

Speaking after a consultative meeting with Immigration and Citizen Services Principal Secretary Julius Bitok, the group expressed concerns and mistrust over the possibility of misuse of the data.

Amnesty International Kenya Executive Director Irungu Houghton said that human rights organisations were keen to ensure the design of the unique personal identifier and the 3rd generation ID was based on three key principles: data privacy, inclusion of marginalized communities and public trust.

“With the enactment of the Data Protection Act, we have jumped probably four decades ahead of the European legislation. With the announcement by the Kenya Kwanza administration that digitization will be the way that they plan to provide services and digitize over 5000 services, we are in different space qualitatively,” Irungu said.

“One of the challenges we have is trust and we want to make sure that Kenyans are comfortable they understand and are aware of the opportunities of this digital platform.”

However, PS Bitok guaranteed Kenyans that the number and the data would be safe, adding that a working group had been set up to keep the dialogue on the unique personal identifier going. 

“Through the national digital ID the government will guarantee Kenyans the security of data because we will have a system that will ensure whatever document you have is authentic and whenever you want to transact you have a document that says who you are,” Bitok said.

At the conclusion of the meeting, the government and civil society committed to undertaking more public education to raise awareness of the proposed digital ID. 

“The objective is to reach out to the civil society and get their input to make the process all-inclusive. We want Kenyans of all walks of life to get an opportunity to give their opinion and feedback,” the PS said.

PS Bitok reiterated the need for a change in the current identification systems to make it compliant with international standards noting that the existing registration and Identity ecosystem is outdated and has been in place for nearly 30 years.