An Accra High Court has ordered the National Communications Authority
(NCA) to stop collecting the personal information of mobile phone
subscribers in the country.
According to the court, government’s
decision to collect personal data of subscribers for contact tracing
violates their right to privacy.
The court presided over by
Justice Rebecca Sittie consequently ordered government to within 14 days
delete all such data gathered and report same to the Court’s Registrar.
The
court awarded damages of GHC20,000 each against Vodafone Ghana Limited,
National Communication Authority (NCA) and Kelni GVG to the plaintiff.
Main Suit
A
private legal practitioner, Francis Kwarteng Arthur sued government
seeking to stop the President, Kelni GVG and the National Communications
Authority (NCA) from securing his personal mobile information from
Vodafone and MTN Ghana for contact tracing.
He contends that
access to such information which is in the possession of the telecom
companies will amount to a breach of his fundamental human rights to
privacy.
Mr. Arthur’s argument is that although the President has
the power to procure his personal information under the appropriate
circumstances taking into account the appropriate factors, the manner in
which the government is seeking to procure the information at this
particular time breaches the law and violates his right to
administrative justice, to privacy and equality.
He is seeking
among other things an order of the High Court “to quash the President’s
directives in EI 63 to the extent that they have violated, are violating
or are likely to violate his fundamental human rights and freedoms.”
He
is also seeking “a perpetual injunction to restrain Vodafone Ghana and
MTN Ghana from relying on EI 63 to make his personal information in
their possession available to the President, the Government, Kelni GVG
and the National Communications Authority”.
<p>Your browser does not support iframes.</p>
Source: Daily Guide