Public advised to protect personal data online to avoid cyber crimes
This year’s World Telecommunication and Information Society Day has been commemorated with a call on the public to ensure the protection of their personal data online to avoid infiltration by cyber criminals.
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A Deputy Minister of Communications, Mr George Andah, who made the call in Accra at a forum yesterday to mark the day, said it was important for people to be sure of the identity of those they released information to online.
That, he said, was crucial because there were cyber criminals ready to use people’s data for criminal activities.
“We need to secure our data. We have to be sure who accesses our data”, he said.
Held on the theme: “Big Data, Big Impact”, the forum brought together players in the telecommunications industry to plot strategies on how to manage big data and increase its impact on socio-economic activities.
It was organised by the National Communications Authority (NCA).
Big data
Mr Andah asked public and private institutions to leverage big data to facilitate the delivery of health, education and communication services in the country.
He said big data offered the opportunity for managers to arrive at better decisions.
Mr Andah added that the government would leverage the data to control the flow of motor traffic, prevent cyber crime and speed up medical services.
Besides, he said, the government would use that data to determine the track record of cash crops.
Data opportunities
The Board Chairman of the NCA, Mr Kwaku Sakyi-Addo, who delivered a speech on behalf of the International Telecommunications Union (ICU’s) Secretary General, Mr Houlin Zhao, said the theme for the celebration presented an opportunity to explore the power of big data for development.
He said it was also to examine the opportunities to convert unprecedented quantities of data into information that could drive development.
“The insight brought by this analysis of data will enable evidence-based decision making at national, regional and international levels and help the implementation of all 17 United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals for 2030”, he said.
Mr Sakyi-Addo said countless opportunities would also be identified as people learnt to better perfect and harness big data and understand the impact it could have as a global advantage.
He said it was time to fully explore the possibilities of big data and its impact on socio-economic spheres of the country.