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Patricia Adusei-Poku (middle), Executive Director, Data Protection Commission, addressing the press. PICTURE: MAXWELL OCLOO
Patricia Adusei-Poku (middle), Executive Director, Data Protection Commission, addressing the press. PICTURE: MAXWELL OCLOO

Register with Data Protection Commission or face prosecution - Adusei-Poku

The Data Protection Commission (DPC) has given a two-week ultimatum to 251 defaulting data controllers to either respond to notices issued to them or register with the commission to avoid prosecution.

According to the commission, the defaulting institutions failed to register with it, even after an earlier 14-day notice had been issued to them to do so.

The Executive Director of the DPC, Patricia Adusei-Poku, said the defaulting institutions owed the state some GHc1.5 million.

She made this known after presenting the list of defaulting institutions to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Mrs Yvonne Atakora-Obuobisa, in Accra on March 30, 2022.

The executive director said her outfit had commenced legal proceedings to retrieve the money, including penalties, from the defaulting institutions.

Mandate

Ms Adusei-Poku explained that institutions that collected and processed personal data were mandated by Section 56 of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) to register with the commission.

“We have taken our time to commence the prosecution of companies and institutions that have defaulted in their obligation. In October 2020, we gave them an amnesty period of six months to register, as required under Section 46(3) of the act.

“While some came, others remained adamant to the caution. We have, therefore, compiled a list of those who have failed to register with the commission. We have about 800,000 institutions on our list, out of which only 251, representing 2.5 per cent, have received their 14-day notices,” she said.

According to Ms Adusei-Poku, her outfit held a closed-door discussion with the DPP yesterday, during which the commission was asked to issue final notices to the defaulters to register.

“So we are going to issue letters to all 251 defaulting institutions and give their key decision makers a chance to respond to the charges against them, after which we will publish the list in the newspapers.

“We know they are active businesses registered with the GRA and paying taxes, but they have failed in their obligation to register with the DPC, ” she added.

 

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