CI-NEWS

Bill relating to the promotion and protection of digital rights in Cameroon.

2019-07-09

No: 435

Bill relating to the promotion and protection of digital rights in Cameroon.

PART I

Explanatory Statement

SECTION 1:

This bill is drafted to make the use of the internet in Cameroon not only on enjoyable one but also to transform our digital space into a veritable development tool capable of making Cameroon emerge in less than no time.

The bill sets forth principles, guarantees rights and duties for the use of an open, interconnected, and inter-related internet in Cameroon. It establishes guidelines for action by government and citizens in relation to the use of the internet in a manner that it becomes a veritable tool for the attainment of the United Nations Sustainable. Development Goals, SDGs; and not a source for division.

Regarding the fact that the internet if used profitably can quickly lift Cameroonians out of poverty, there is need for a comprehensive piece of legislation that sets out our digital rights in one place. Where such rights do exist, as in law No. 2010/012 of 21 December 2010 Relating to cyber security and cyber criminality in Cameroon, they have developed in a piece meal fashion.

The present bill finds its relevance in the fact that since the passage of the 2010 Law on Cyber security and cyber criminality, there have been huge technological advances. These include a tectonic shift in the way we interact socially and an explosive growth in data creation. Although these changes have brought enormous economic and social benefits, they have also created an array of opportunities for the misuse of personal data, whether by public authorities, criminals or commercial internets.

It is for this reason that the bills sets out the fundamental rights and liberties that would protect Cameroonians and enable them to thrive as confident citizens and consumers of the digital world.

This digital rights bill for Cameroon would ensure that;

1) Civil and human rights that apply in the physical world also apply online;

2) There is grater transparency around the way in which government and private companies use personal data;

3) Citizens take control in the protection and use of their personal data as well as make information choices around their lives;

4) Key rights that are particular to the digital sphere are established.

Concerning the promotion and protection of human rights online, the bill provides for the protection and promotion of;

- Open internet

- Freedom of speech;

- Privacy;

- Surveillance;

- Encryption;

- Internet access

- Publicly funded data and research;

- Digital literacy; and;

- Enforcement of digital rights;

The bill incorporates the core international human rights principles and related international instruments duly ratified by Cameroon in the domain.

In particular, the bill finds expression in Article 19 of the International Covenant on civil and Political Rights that Cameroon ratified in 1984. A Article 19 of ICCPR requires State parties to guarantee the right to freedom of expression, including the right to receive and impact information and ideas of all kinds regardless of frontiers. The U.N Human Rights Committee has stated that, “any restrictions on the operation of websites, blogs, or any other interment – based electronic or other such information dissemination systems’ must comply with Article 19.

According to duly ratified international instruments, the bill understands that restrictions to the speech and expression guaranteed in Article 19 are lawful only when such restrictions pass the three-part, cumulative test. According to the test:

1) The restriction must be provided for by the law, which is clear and accessible to everyone (ie, adhere to principles of predictability and transparency);

2) The restriction must pursue one of the purposes set out in Article 19(3) of the ICCPR, namely; (i) to protect the rights or reputation of others; (ii) to protect national security or public order, or public health or morals (principle of legitimacy) and;

3) The restriction must be proven as necessary and the least restrictive means required to achieve the purported aim (i.e, adheres to principles of necessity and proportionality).

Concerning the relation of this bill to instruments at the Regional Level, Article 9 of the African Charter on Human and People’s Rights (ACPHR) also protects the right to freedom of expression without any undue government interference. According to that Article, any undue interference with individual’s privacy can both directly and indirect limit the free development and exchange of ideas.

The bill is in line with Cameroon’s resolve to be an advanced democracy and to respect international and regional instruments. Given that at both the international and regional levels, privacy is unequivocally recognized as a fundamental democratic and human right, Cameroon cannot afford to shy away from being at the forefront of protecting it. The right to privacy is enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (art. 12), the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), art 17), the convention on the Rights of the Child (art. 16), and the International Convention on the Protection of All Migrant Workers and Members of their Families (art. 14).

The bill makes the case for Cameroon’s democracy. As a democratic country, Cameroon believes in an open society where every one is free to fulfill their potential both offline and online. A free and open internet embodies that principle. Vint Cert, one of the early pioneers of the internet wrote that: “When the internet was conceived in the early 70s, the notion of openness lay at the heart of its architecture, philosophy, and technical protocols”. Similarly, the institutions that were created to cater to the evolution of the internet were open, bottom-up and inclusive. The free and open internet is a precious achievement and the Cameroon government has a responsibility to promote and protect it.

SECTION 2: This bill shall not cover the specific applications used in national defense and security.

SECTION 3: This bill shall not cover the specific data protection instruments that need to be developed and proposed as a separate bill.

SECTION 4: Within the meaning of this bill and its implementing instruments, the following definitions shall be accepted:

1) Internet rights – human rights that apply on the internet because internet connects people, not just computers

2) Open Internet - the principles where internet service providers must treat all internet communication equally, and not discriminate or charge differently based on user, content, website, platform, application, type of equipment, or method of communication.

3) Free speech – the right to express any opinion without censorship or restraint. This applies to individuals as well as communities.

4) Privacy – the ability of an individual or group of persons to seclude themselves or information about themselves, and thereby express themselves selectively and without being monitored.

5) Surveillance – the continuous observation of a place, person, group, or ongoing activity in order to gather information, video Camera use or covert surveillance.

6) User created content – any form of content, such as images, texts, and audio that have been posted by users on online platforms such as social media and wikis.

7) Personal data – any data that relates to an identified or identifiable living individual. Different pieces, which collected together can lead to the identification of a particular person, also constitute personal data.

8) Data protection - the process of safe-guarding important information from corruption, compromise or loss. Everyone responsible for using data has to follow strict rules or data protection principles.

9) Encryption – the use of codes or signals to convert information to be transmitted in the form of signals that are not understood by others.

10) Internet access – the ability of individuals and organizations to connect to the internet using computer terminals, computers, and other devices, and to access services such as e-mails and the World Wide Web.

11) Restriction – a limiting condition or measure, especially a legal one.

12) Digital literacy – a set of competences required for full participation in the knowledge society. This includes knowledge, skills, and behaviors involving the effective use of digital devices such as smart phones, tablets, laptops and desk stops for purposes of communication, expression, collaboration, and advocacy.

SECTION 5: The terms, concepts and expressions not defined under this bill shall maintain their definitions or meanings as provided for in international legal instruments to which Cameroon adheres, notably the constitution and the convention of the International TeleCommunications Union, the Radio Communications Regulation, the International Telecommunications’ Regulation, the International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications surveillance, and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, ACcHPR.

PART II

PROMOTION AND PROTECTION OF DIGITAL RIGHTS

SECTION 6: The Administration in charge of Telecommunications shall ensure the promotion and protection of internet policies by taking into account technological developments and Government’s priorities in this domain; accordingly, it shall;

- Promote an open, free, and neutral internet as an essential element of an open government, good democracy, a strong economy, connected communities and diversity of cultures.

- Ensure government ministers uphold a multi-stakeholders internet in both their domestic and international dealings.

- Ensure cross-departmental collaboration and cooperation with government ministries by regularly briefing ministerial colleagues, the media and public, to explain current policy, new developments, legislative requirements, as well as to explore opportunities for innovation in government and public services.

PART III

ACCESS TO AFFORDABLE, FREE, AND OPEN INTERNET

SECTION 7: The Government has the duty to ensure, by promoting effective competition, that citizens and customers have universal and affordable access to the internet.

i) To achieve this, government must treat access to the internet as a basic utility similar to water, gas and electricity.

ii) Local authorities should provide free internet access points, for example, in public libraries and schools.

iii) Access to an unrestricted internet is a right that can only be infringed by legitimate security reasons.

iv) Any restriction to access to internet must be determined by a court that it is necessary to do so for the prevention of serious crime.

v) Government must not otherwise take steps to restrict or throttle citizens’ access to the internet.

vi) Internet Service Providers (ISPs) should not filter lawful content without their users’ active agreement, nor strike deals with content providers which results in them taking up significant bandwidth for priority for voice communications and video on demand.

vii) Government should not mandate the filtering of lawful online content. In this light, customers should be given the choice of whether they want to have certain material blocked when they connect to the internet, but service providers should not prevent their users with the default assumption that they want legal content to be blocked.

PART IV

RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION ONLINE

Section 8: The right to freedom of expression applies online just as it does in the offline world.

i) Government have the responsibility to uphold the right to free expression online, which extends to expression in all its forms, including text, videos, audio recordings, and other forms of public communications.

ii) Government has the responsibility to defend the free press, including the rights of journalists to express their views freely online.

iii) This responsibility should specifically extend to intermediaries (ie organizations that host but do not author the material) which can be particularly prone to pressure to remove lawful content).

iv) Government has the responsibility to ensure that the criminalization of any speech is limited to what is necessary and proportionate in a free democratic society, and that criminal law should be targeted at protecting the physical integrity and security of individuals, and not the protection of moral attitudes, beliefs, and viewpoints.

v) Outdated laws which focus on the method of communication rather than the content or impact of the communication should be repealed or replaced by coherent legislation.

vi) Any request made by the government or its agencies to censor online speech must have a clear statutory basis in law, with recourse to the court in the event of a dispute.

vii) Lawful speech must not be censored by the government, either through formal or informal processes.

viii) All instances (whether formal or informal) of government initiated censorship online (including network – level blocking of content hosted overseas) must be recorded and published in annual transparency reports, including as open data.

ix) The protection of the right to free speech and free expression finds justification in Article 19 of the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights that Cameroon ratified in 1984. The Article requires that state parties guarantee the right to freedom of expression, and that any restrictions on the operations of websites, blogs, or any other internet – based electronic or other such information dissemination systems must comply with Article 19.

PART V

PRIVACY ONLINE

Section 9: Everyone has the right to respect for their private and family life. The right to privacy rests on the underlying premise that the individuals have a “private sphere” where they can interact free from state interference. The right to privacy is also the ability of individuals to determine who holds information about them and how that information is used. In this light;

i) Government has a duty to uphold the privacy of citizens in their telecommunications and their digital lives, and to ensure that necessary frameworks are put in place to protect personal data.

ii) Exceptions to these principles must be clear, prescribed by law, subject to oversight and most comply with Art 17 of the ICCPR and must meet all requirements of the test set forth by the U.N. Special Rrapporteur.

iii) Privacy may be invaded by public authorities where there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activities or where it is necessary and proportionate to do so in the public interest, and with appropriate oversight by the court.

iv) There should be no unnecessary collection or storage of data in the form that can be used to identify individuals.

v) Public and private bodies must take steps to ensure that data is anonymised or aggregated in such a way that individuals cannot be easily identified.

PART VI

SURVEILLANCE

Section 10: State surveillance of the internet must be the exception rather than the norm, and must take place where it is clearly justified for the protection of the public and in accordance with the fundamental principles of necessity and proportionately.

i) There should be no blanket collection of citizens personal communication by the police or intelligence agencies.

ii) Government should not require communication providers to retain any bulk data for law enforcement or intelligence purposes unless it can demonstrate that it is strictly necessary and proportionate to do so in order to protect the public from crime.

iii) The purpose for any such retention must be clearly set out in law, time-limited, and subject to public scrutiny and proper parliamentary oversight.

iv) Communication service providers must not be required to collect third party communications data for non-business purposes and must follow “The International Principles on the Application of Human Rights to Communications surveillance”.

v) Access to metadata, live content, or the stored content of personal communications must only take place where there is reasonable suspicion of criminal activity or the prevention of threats to life.

vi) The acquisition of communications data which might reveal journalists’ sources or other privileged communications should be subject to judicial oversight and authorization. Journalists should have the opportunity to address the court before authorization is granted, where this would not jeopardize the investigation.

vii) The police and intelligence agencies must not obtain data on Cameroon residents from foreign government that it would not be legal to obtain in Cameroon under Cameroon Law.

viii) Any government request for access to personal data stored in another legal jurisdiction should take place within a prompt, lawful and transparent international framework.

ix) Surveillance powers must not be extended without primary legislation from parliament.

x) All government surveillance must be subject to oversight which is informed, transparent and effective.

xi) Government must publish annual transparency reports, including as open data, setting out comprehensive and detailed information on the use of power to access personal data by law enforcement and the intelligence agencies, and other public bodies. There must be a corresponding right for individual companies or organizations which have received surveillance warrants or notifications to publish similar transparency reports.

PART VII

ENCRYPTION

Section II: To ensure the emergence of the digital economy, individuals and families need to have the confidence that their private information, photos and conversations are not vulnerable to hackers. Strong cyber-security is the basis of a strong digital economy.

i) Individuals, businesses, and public bodies have the right to use strong encryption to protect their privacy and security online.

ii) Government has the responsibility to uphold and facilitate the strongest security standards online and should not seek to weaken encryption or obstruct the availability of encryption technologies.

iii) No request should be made to decrypt content unless it is necessary and proportionate to do so for purpose of protecting the public.

iv) Decryption could only be allowed to take place on a case-by-case basis and must meet the requirements of legality, necessity, proportionately and legitimacy of the objective.

v) In case of decryption, companies should not be expected to handover to government the encryption master keys.

PART VIII

RIGHT TO ACCESS AND USE OF PUBLICY – FUNDED DATA AND RESEARCH.

Section 12: In order to unlock the values that lie in public datasets so that citizens can benefit from the development of innovative products and services as well as hold their public services to account, data that is created and maintained by government using public funds should be accessible to the public to use and share.

i) The outputs of publicly funded research should be published under a creative commons or open license so as to foster innovation and knowledge sharing.

ii) Data created by Government departments and bodies should be published as “open by default” licensed for anyone to access, use and share.

iii) Data created as part of publicly procured services should also be published under a creative commons or public license.

iv) Organizations and individuals undertaking research and development using public funds should publish the results of their initiatives as open license.

PART IX

DIGITAL LITERACY

Section 13: Digital literacy should be considered a core pillar of the national curriculum, alongside numeracy and literacy, so that children and young people are able to enjoy the benefits of digital technologies without compromising their safety and privacy.

i) Government and other education agencies should support schools equip children and young people with the skills and competences they need to use and critique digital technologies.

ii) Government has the responsibility to make sure children and young people are protected from illegal practices online and supported if confronted by troubling or upsetting scenarios online.

iii) Government should support a variety of civil society organizations who are able to support young people navigate the internet and any challenges they face.

PART X

ENFORCEMENT OF DIGITAL RIGHTS

Section 14: Anyone whose digital rights are breached has the right to complain to a competent authority and to have the complaint acted upon.

i) The courts and parliament should have the power to proactively audit any body which processes personal data without the consent of that body.

ii) Breach of data protection law should result in a commensurate fine for the body concerned, and disciplinary action for the employees, and/or compensation for the individual [s] affected

iii) Specific provisions should be made to allow for individuals to use the small claims court procedure for seeking a remedy or redress for the breaches of digital rights

iv) The Cameroon Human Rights Commission shall have the powers to oversee the application of the articles of this legislation. It may also compel the release of data created by government, or in the course of publicly procured services, as open data where it is in the public interest to do so.

v) The theft or illegal sale of personal data resulting in the loss of privacy or other harm to individual [s] should result in penalties up and including a prison sentence

A PHP Error was encountered

A PHP Error was encountered

Bill relating to the promotion and protection of digital rights in Cameroon.