According to a global survey, Kenyans do not care about the security of their personal data posted on the internet.
Only four in every 10 internet users in Kenya are concerned about their privacy online, meaning they are at risk of being targeted by cybercriminals, a new report by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) Wednesday (04.09.19) shows, Nairobi News reported.
This is the lowest level in the world according to the report and ranks poorly against the global average of eight in every 10 users.
“While there appears to be increasing concerns about data privacy and online security around the world, there is somewhat a ‘data privacy paradox’, as users continue to give away personal data and thus their privacy in exchange for different services,” says UNCTAD Digital Economy report published on Wednesday evening.
“The lowest level of concern was noted in Kenya at 44 per cent.”
Kenya does not have a data protection law, something that has made citizens suspicious of the State’s data collection efforts such as recent biometric (Huduma Namba) registration and national census.
UNCTAD’s conclusion is based on findings of the 2019 Global Survey on Internet Security and Trust on 25,229 internet users in select 25 countries in the world between December 21, 2018, and February 10, 2019.
Social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter were cited as the second biggest sources of distrust of the internet, only second to cybercriminals.
Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), the telecoms sector regulator, said in July Kenyan firms were hit by about 11.2 million cyber threats between January and March this year, a 10.1 per cent rise compared with a year earlier.
Kenya, South Africa, Nigeria and Egypt were the only countries in Africa selected for the survey conducted by Paris-headquartered global research firm, Ipsos, on behalf of the Centre for International Governance Innovation (CIGI) in partnership with UNCTAD and the Internet Society.
