This Massive Open Online Course, MOOC, is presented by the Centre for Human Rights of the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and supported by Google. The course focuses on the key elements of the right to privacy and data protection in the digital age in Africa.
The right to privacy in the digital age in Africa is designed to provide participants with the foundational elements of the right to privacy and data protection; the legal framework on privacy and data protection, restrictions on the right to privacy; privacy and cybersecurity and also provide a glimpse of some of the emerging issues on privacy in the digital age.
Course dates: 24 May – 28 June 2021
The course is being presented at a time when many African countries are grappling with enacting specific and appropriate legislation on the regulation of data collection, control and processing of personal data. Implementation of existing frameworks and adopted laws in Africa is also lagging far behind other regional systems in addressing these privacy and data protection concerns.
The uneven, inadequate or non-existent legal protection and institutional framework for protection of personal information in Africa creates vulnerabilities for personal data and increases susceptibility to privacy challenges and data breaches. These inadequacies are also in the context of advancements which themselves create new challenges for privacy and data protection.
This course is designed as a massive open online course (MOOC) to educate and set the tone for an improved data protection landscape within the African region. It is targeted at academics, lawyers, human rights activists, regional and sub-regional bodies, data protection authorities, government departments/agencies, Data Protection Authorities (DPAs) and other key stakeholders involved in policy and advocacy for privacy rights and data protection in the digital age.
The programme of the MOOC is divided in five modules.
Module 1: Introduction to privacy and data protection This introductory module sets the stage for the course with analyses and basic understanding of the right to privacy in general and data privacy in particular, as well as the distinct yet overlapping nature of both concepts. It discusses in the detail key concepts with respect to data protection; the historical development of data protection and the right to privacy; the relationship between the right to privacy and other human rights; policy and regulatory approaches to data privacy and concludes with key principles on privacy by design.
Module 2: Overview of the legal framework on privacy This module focuses on the normative frameworks for data protection. It considers the various existing legal and institutional systems with respect to data protection including regional standards on the right to privacy and data protection; the principles governing the lawful processing of data; scope of application; data processing formalities; rights of data subjects and obligations of data controllers.
Module 3: Legitimate restrictions on the right to privacy This module examines the limitations to the right to privacy. Given the legally accepted practices of limitations of rights under international human rights law, this module discusses the acceptable instances of limitation of the right to privacy. In doing this, it analyses the internal and external limitations on the right to privacy in international human rights law; examines the interference with the right to privacy and communications surveillance and highlights surveillance-enabling laws and privacy in Africa.
Module 4: Privacy and cybersecurity This module examines the relationship between privacy and cybersecurity. It defines the concept of cybersecurity; examines the international legal frameworks on cybersecurity; the risks and vulnerabilities associated cybersecurity threats and how these impacts on privacy and highlights global cybersecurity initiatives.
Module 5: Emerging issues – privacy in the digital age This module looks at some of the prevalent challenges that arise in the context of the right to privacy and the rapid technological advances in the digital age. It carries this out by highlighting the key challenges posed by new technologies to privacy; assessment of data protection frameworks on new technologies in Africa; examining the concept of data minimization; conceptualisation of cross-border data transfer; ensuring compliance with existing data protection frameworks and discussing the issues of data sovereignty and data localisation in Africa.
Certificate of participation can be request after the course.
by 
![Data Protection/Privacy Guide for Lawyers in Africa [Download]](https://loyalnigerianlawyer.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/Screenshot_2022-03-08_102957-150x150.jpg "Data Protection/Privacy Guide for Lawyers in Africa [Download]")
