By Pempho Kantayeni

Lilongwe, May 2, Mana: Malawi Communications Regulatory Authority (MACRA) has developed a draft framework for data protection registration regulation, which will require data controllers and processors to register with the authority at a fee. 

Speaking on Friday in Lilongwe during a validation workshop with various stakeholders, Head of Data Protection, Daniel Chiwoni, disclosed that the purpose of the workshop is to engage with stakeholders on developing a framework to support the Data Protection Act by providing detailed processes on how MACRA will regulate the processing of personal data in the country.

"So we have developed, for now, two sets of regulations; the first one being the data protection registration regulations. Under the Data Protection Act, there is a requirement that those that are processing vast amounts of data, we call them data controllers and data processors of significant importance, should register with the with the MACRA," he said.

Chiwoni emphasised that the regulations will outline the information to be

submitted during the registration process and the fees to be paid.

He added that the framework will specify when the registration process is complete and how the authority will communicate to the registrants.

Chiwoni highlighted that Data Protection Handling Regulations will address the complaints from data subjects affected by processing activities by providing a process for handling complaints lodged with the data protection authority.

"The framework will specify the period within which a company must respond to a complaint and the steps to be taken afterward," he said.

One of the participants, for Youth Intiative Executive Director Precious Phiri, said that the new regulations and protocols will help in safeguarding data and privacy in the country.

"The workshop will help us to actually safeguard the data and the privacy for almost everybody in Malawi, so what we're trying to do is to safeguard these by putting protocols so that people should be safeguarded, whereby people cannot hack and issues of identity theft should not happen," he said.

The regulations aim to streamline the registration process and ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act.

In order to ensure that data subjects rights are protected, MACRA has also developed the Data Protection Complaints Handling Regulations draft.