Cabinet Approves Cyber Protection Bill

Yesterday, the Cabinet approved the Principles of the Cyber Protection, Data Protection, and Electronic Transactions Bill. The Bill is meant to provide comprehensive guidelines of what constitutes and what doesn’t constitute to be a  cybercrime in relation to the use; of a person’s (electronic) data and electronic transactions. Minister of Information Monica Mutsvangwa said;

Cabinet has approved the principles of the Cyber Protection, Data Protection and Electronic Transaction bill 2018, following a presentation by the Minister of ICT, Postal and Courier Services…The bill calls for harmonization of computer related crime laws in criminal codification act, to the SADC model law computer crime, cyber crime and international best practices

With Zimbabwe (and the world) increasingly going digital it is imperative to come with tech/digital-specific laws so that there won’t be double standards when the government starts to throw people into jail.  Already some civil society groups have pointed out that some parts of the Bill, as it is, infringe citizen’s rights. The full arguments of these civil society groups will be heard through the mouths of the Members of the Parliaments, where the Bill is now headed to be debated on (in parliament). 

When the Bill eventually becomes law, the government has to know that setting the law is one thing, it has to continuously amend (the law) since technology is swiftly evolving daily. As often and normal, regulations and laws lag behind tech advances.

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