By: Robert
Kwaku Annor
Sierra Leone is
strengthening safeguards for children’s personal data as government
institutions move towards more connected digital public infrastructure, with
cybersecurity and data protection being placed at the centre of system design.
The Ministry of
Communication, Technology and Innovation (MoCTI), in partnership with UNICEF
and the Centre for Digital Public Infrastructure, led a three-day workshop on
Digital Public Infrastructure Guardrails for Children to examine how government
systems can securely share and use children’s data.
The workshop brought
together representatives from 16 government ministries, who worked in groups
around four priority use cases: birth registration, vaccination records,
education data and social protection.
Participants examined which
institutions require access to specific categories of data, which information
should remain restricted, where potential data breaches could occur and the
security measures required to protect children’s information.
The government stressed that
cybersecurity must be incorporated into digital systems from the design stage
rather than introduced after systems are operational.
MoCTI said connected systems
can expand the government’s ability to provide services to children but can
also create additional risks if personal information is not adequately
protected.
