The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission (ZEC) is officially concluding its initial
voters' roll inspection process on Tuesday 29 May 2018. To its credit it did so with a decent amount
of advertising on state television, radio and mainstream print media. In a first, it collaborated with the three major mobile phone companies (MPCs) Econet Wireless Zimbabwe , Netone and Telecel (the 3 sisters) to establish a Unstructured Supplementary
Service Data (USSD) platform for those that registered and gave their actual
mobile numbers and physical addresses to ZEC to confirm that their names were
on the new voter’s roll.
What made this new methodology employed by ZEC and the MPCs was
that there was probably a service provider -to- customer relationship between them. And therefore an exchange of money. Probably
from ZEC to the three (3) companies. This transaction was probably more effective with Econet because it’s
the largest mobile phone service provider in the country. Both by way of
numbers of its subscribers but also its countrywide reach and services.
Beyond this what was also transacted between ZEC and the MPCs was basic but mass data. The MPCs know your number (if you are on its
network). ZEC also knows your current address or at
least where you will most physically definitely vote from (and has a record of you fingerprints). The protection of that
personal data is the preserve of all of the above. Almost
in similar fashion to how you use mobile banking, a combination of your bank
collaborating with mobile phone companies to link your bank account with your
phone. With the promissory note of
protecting the privacy of transactions that you undertake.
The only key difference is that ZEC is not a bank. Nor were
you asked to fill in a form to allow the MPCs to be given even minimal and 'bank-like' secure access to your data.
But for many urban voters in Zimbabwe issues or explanations of how data is protected or even utilised
by ZEC and other players does not surpass the evident convenience of checking
their names on the voters' roll via their mobile phones while seated on their couches. This is despite
that some who had the energy to go and cross check their names physically found
that there were still one or two details such as spelling of names that still
had to be corrected.
Perhaps the most interesting issue is how ZEC came to the
decision to work with mobile phone companies in the voter’s roll inspection
exercise. And what sort of tenders are
being issued and the nature of contractual arrangements (payments) that are
being made.
To take it further, there is also the issue of a broader
debate about what license ZEC has with the bio-metric data it has
collected. Even if it has not illegally
shared it with unknown or known third parties. Before and particularly after
the general election (we do not really know for now).
This is also in light of developments in the global north
where the European Union has enacted a new law that seeks to prioritise the
protection of privacy via major holders of personal data of its individual
citizens. Called the ‘General Data Protection Regulation’ or GDPR it seeks to strengthen the right of individuals
to privacy through for example shortening explanations of data protection
policies of organisations that hold it as well as imposing heavier fines for
breaches of the same. And also to ensure that there is a simpler and more
understandable consent process for the use personal data by
companies/organisations.
We do not have such a law in Zimbabwe except for the Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA) as well as a draft bill on data protection. This is probably because
there is no outcry about how privacy is protected via companies (banks, mobile
phone service providers and state institutions) with access to our private data.
Or also because too many questions over and about data and its use in the country
may affect the profit margins of the same companies or their ability to know
every other detail of our lives not only for advertising revenue but also political
predictability/control. Even though for now we are not aware of its capacity to use algorithms to affect political perceptions and thereby actions or results.
The convenience provided by some of the service providers that
we give our personal data to is also a big factor here. Not just because we want to be more modern
and sophisticated (especially if we are in urban areas) but also because in and
of itself the technology that enables the synchronisation of (mass personal) data is like a new
toy we are not sure what to do with. And
we tend to learn after it injures us.
Just to be clear, there would be nothing wrong with ZEC
being more accountable with how it intends to use as well as protect the decent
amount of data it has on Zimbabwean voters.
And where it chooses to work in tandem with private telecommunications
players based on the same data, to not only be publicly accountable for such
processes but also seek our consent for the same. Even if the main argument might
be ‘convenience’ it does not surpass our right to the privacy of personal data. Or what ZEC or those it decides to collaborate with decide to do with it. Even after the 2018 election.
*Takura Zhangazha writes here in his personal capacity
(takura-zhangazha.blogspot.com)
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