The Office of the Data Protection Commission-ONLINE ACTIVITY

Fri, Dec 19th 2014, 10:31 AM

The Office of the Data Protection Commissioner wishes to advise the general public of the need to responsibly use online services.

The public should be further advised that once information is posted online, it can be very difficult to retrieve that information. Some information, if gotten into the hands of unscrupulous and irresponsible individuals could cause extreme distress and damage to an individual’s reputation. Therefore, online users should exercise extreme caution when posting information online. Members of the public are also encouraged to set their privacy settings to ensure that only persons who they would want to see or share their information are allowed to do so. Users should ultimately only post information that, if improperly disclosed, is less likely to cause damage and distress.

Further, the public is urged to respect the individual’s fundamental right to privacy as enshrined in the Constitution of The Bahamas. This Office notes that there is an increase in the activities of persons operating as ‘rogue investigators and reporters,’ who seemingly seek popularity and celebrity status at the risk and expense of disintegrating our society into one of chaos and disorder. Such behavior is condemned. This Office is committed, and has an obligation to uphold the provisions of our Constitution and to administer and enforce the provisions of the Data Protection (Privacy of Personal Information Act), 2003.

The public should be advised that under sections 22 and 23 of the Data Protection (Privacy of Personal Information Act) 2003, it is an offence to obtain access to an individual’s personal information and disclose it without the consent or proper authority of the data controller or data processor.

We will work with all of the relevant stakeholders to ensure that members of public are provided to the extent possible with safeguards to properly protect against the unauthorized access to, alteration or disclosure of their personal information.

Aggrieved members of the public can make a complaint to our office at telephone number (242) 702-1552 or email us at dataprotection@bahamas.gov.bs.

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