In a lengthy presentation to Parliament, the Minister of State in the office of the Prime Minister took the previous Manning PNM government to task for what he said was a blatant abuse of its power in terms of handing private information.
Partap spoke about the illegal operations of the Security Intelligence Agency (SIA) and the Manning government's persecution of former Chief Justice Satnarine Sharma.
"They went after the Chief Justice in the most disgraceful ways possible, including daily assaults in the media as well as sending armed policemen to his home," Partap recalled.
He said Sharma was one of the victims of the illegal spying by the SIA under Patrick Manning's watch, adding that it was a violation of trust.
"While our brothers, sisters and children were being kidnapped and murdered, instead of using state resources responsibly to gather intelligence on the criminals, the PNM administration presided over the worse macco-fest in the history of this nation," Partap told the House.
The Cumoto MP noted that the bill forms part of a two-pronged legislative approach to better facilitate and promote electronic government and access to Government services. The other half, he said, would be through the Electronic Transactions Bill to be presented the Minister of Public Administration.
The Data Protection bill seeks to protect "personal information" as well as "sensitive information" collected by businesses and private agencies without any mechanism to safeguard such information.
"All this information is out there, stored and unregulated, and left to the whims and fancies of those who have it. There is no proper framework to protect people’s personal data from being given to a third party or being used for personal gain," Partap said.
He noted that the bill provides for an Information commissioner, who will provide specific guidelines for treating with the public sector whereas a participative co-regulatory approach will be adopted for the private sector.
The Information Commissioner will prepare codes of conduct for private sector organizations and these codes will necessitate varying obligations on the part of these organizations.
Partap said the bill is "inextricably intertwined" with the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), which was established to encourage transparency in the operations of the public service.
He noted that the Data Protection Bill balances the granting of access to personal and sensitive information of an individual to members of the public, as well as to other third parties.
Partap said there are 122 clauses in the data bill under six main headings. He also pointed out how some of the clauses will protect citizens:
Partap said clause 88 makes it an offence if a person wilfully obstructs the Information Commissioner or any other person acting for or under his direction while carrying out an audit or an investigation while clause 89 makes it an offence for a person to make a request for information under false pretences.
The clause also makes it an offence where a person wilfully makes a false statement to mislead or attempts to mislead the Information Commissioner in the performance of his functions.In addition clause 93 makes it an offence for a person to wilfully disclose information or collect, store of dispose of personal information in a manner that contravenes the Act.
The penalties for breach of the provisions of the act range from $50,000 or 3 years imprisonment to $500,000 for conviction on indictment, depending on which clause is violated. Partap said the bill will benefit citizens in a number of ways. These include:
Partap said clause 88 makes it an offence if a person wilfully obstructs the Information Commissioner or any other person acting for or under his direction while carrying out an audit or an investigation while clause 89 makes it an offence for a person to make a request for information under false pretences.
The clause also makes it an offence where a person wilfully makes a false statement to mislead or attempts to mislead the Information Commissioner in the performance of his functions.In addition clause 93 makes it an offence for a person to wilfully disclose information or collect, store of dispose of personal information in a manner that contravenes the Act.
The penalties for breach of the provisions of the act range from $50,000 or 3 years imprisonment to $500,000 for conviction on indictment, depending on which clause is violated. Partap said the bill will benefit citizens in a number of ways. These include:
- the protection of the individual’s right to privacy
- the protection for the physical and electronic security of personal information
- a guarantee that personal information is used correctly
- the protection of sensitive personal data such as medical history, religion, political party affiliation etc., which may be used as a means of discrimination
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