A Bio-Data Privacy Protection Framework for the Telecommunications Industry in Kenya

Abstract

Privacy is a basic human need which should be protected legally. Right to privacy provides individuals capability of determining to what extent their personal information shall be communicated to others. The concept of privacy figures prominently in discourse about the social and political threats posed by modern information and communications technology (ICT). This paper presents the results of a descriptive survey that sought to examine privacy issues concerning bio-data in the telecommunications sector in Kenya and subsequently develop a framework to address the challenges. This study concluded that although organizations in the telecommunications sector had adopted several bio data privacy protection measures, these measures had not completely translated to absolute bio data privacy. A bio data privacy protection framework was consequently developed for validation by telecommunication industry players. The proposed framework provides increased security for bio data processed and otherwise held by telecommunication firms. It is recommended that telecommunication firms must understand the privacy and security regulations that apply to the customers’ bio data they receive, store, process, and transmit. Further, having a robust control framework and implementing it throughout the organization and the third parties can help the telecommunication operators ensure adequate bio data privacy.