Data privacy law and practice in Ethiopia

Abstract

Ethiopia has recognized the right to privacy throughout its brief constitutional history, albeit to different degrees. All Ethiopian Constitutions, including the first written Constitution of 1931, have had provisions dedicated to the right to privacy. Comprehensive privacy safeguards were, however, introduced by the Constitution of 1995, which protects privacy of persons, their home, and correspondences in a detailed manner. The constitutional guarantees to privacy are furthered in subordinate instruments that refine details of the protection. These fairly robust constitutional guarantees to privacy are, nevertheless, recently being undermined and eroded by the myriad of ill-conceived privacy-unfriendly laws the country has recently introduced and surveillance practices conducted in the absence of any oversight mechanisms. Recent reports have implicated the government for allegedly undertaking massive surveillances, interception of electronic communications, and even cyberattacks on members of opposition groups and journalists. This article examines the present legal safeguards to data privacy along with major practical challenges and proffers suggestions towards a robust data privacy regime.