Data Protection in the Age of Mass Surveillance – Part II
The proposed data protection bill is not up to standard concerning fundamental rights, freedoms, as well as privacy Addressing the room early on 22 August 2023 on behalf of the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (MICT), as she opened what was called a validation workshop for the latest version of the data protection bill, […]
Data Protection in the Age of Mass Surveillance – Part I
Namibian authorities pitch flawed safeguards as pervasive state surveillance looms “Today aims at setting the regulatory framework on how personal data should be collected, stored and processed,” said Linda Aipinge, director of ICT Development in the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology (MICT), on the morning of 22 August 2023 to a conference hall full […]
Quality of Democracy Under Threat
New state mass surveillance powers and looming watered-down privacy protections will damage Namibia’s press freedom standing Just after 9 am on 3 May 2023 the Namibian presidency issued a statement to mark the country’s retaking of first position on the African continent on the 2023 World Press Freedom Index. Pride dripped from a World Press […]
Questionable Harvesting Of Biometric Data
MTC has been scanning fingerprints and taking face photos while the legal framework only requires basic information for SIM registration. In a usually empty retail space just around the corner from the box office inside the MTC Dome in Swakopmund, a crowd of people filled out forms and then queued to have their fingerprints scanned […]
Thoughts On The Pandemic – Two Years On
State of Emergency The initial lockdown was difficult for the public to deal with, but it was necessary. At the time we didn’t know how harmful the virus might be – so it was legitimate for government to introduce emergency measures and limit some rights, such as freedom of movement and size of public gatherings. […]
The 4IR in Namibia Faces Fundamental Issues
For many first world countries, the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) – which refers to the fusion of advances in artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, the internet of things (IoT), and other technologies – is already upon them. Countries such as the United States have made great strides in providing a blueprint for others to reference especially […]
Time to Reward the Vaccinated
Recently, local financial services company Cirrus Capital produced a chart showing that, at current rates, Namibia will only reach its target for COVID-19 vaccinations (1 478 756 people or approximately 60% of the population) midway through 2026. This extremely sluggish vaccination rate means that Namibia will have little protection against a potentially damaging fourth wave […]
Role and Responsibilities of the Ombudsman
In a statement released on 19 July 2021, the Office of the Judiciary announced that Ruth Herunga, Tousy Namiseb and Basilius Dyakugha would be interviewed for the Ombudsman post. The post was advertised and only four candidates applied with the aforementioned three being selected for the interview stage. The successful candidate will succeed John Walters […]
The Changing Political Landscape
The recent local and regional elections produced few surprises. Swapo would have been hoping to maintain the 65% of the popular vote they achieved in 2019’s National Assembly elections. But with a year of more Fishrot revelations and an already battered economy coming under further pressure from COVID-19, the prospect of stabilising the Swapo vote […]
Curt von Francois – Time to Go
Namibians are calling for the removal of the Curt von François statue in Independence Avenue. See the petition on the issue here – https://www.change.org/p/mayor-of-the-city-of-windhoek-fransina-kahungu-a-curt-farewell Von François is most notoriously known for carrying out the 1893 Hoornkrans Massacre in which mainly women and children were killed. In 2015 Swanu President Usutuaije Maamberua called for the statue […]
