Many people are unaware of their digital rights, putting them at risk of cybercrime, data breaches, and other violations of their rights.

South Sudan relies on constitutional provisions and international human rights frameworks to safeguard individuals’ online privacy.

The Transitional Constitution of South Sudan (2011) recognizes the right to privacy as a fundamental human right.

Due to the lack of specific legislation, matters concerning online personal information are frequently managed through general constitutional interpretations and international human rights standards.

Keji Jenifer, a Juba resident, says the country lacks a legal framework to safeguard citizens’ rights to privacy and data protection.

“I must say that most South Sudanese are not aware of most of their rights, not only the right to privacy and protection. But our constitution is very clear on that. And this has been witnessed with several violations that we have witnessed over the years since our independence.”

Keji says the lack of a legal framework resulted in security organs seizing devices of individuals without adhering to established procedures, thus infringing on their rights to privacy.

 “You will see now the court cases of the suspended first vice president, and the other accused, and their gadgets were confiscated without prior procedures. And that infringes their privacy rights. Before you use somebody’s digital gadgets or anything that comes to the person, you need to follow the legal procedure. And that can only be ordered by a public prosecutor or an order issued by a court.”

Tito Awen, a resident of Juba, emphasized the need to improve public awareness and implement digital privacy laws.

“So personally, the way I have been monitoring South Sudanese right away from political class and ordinary South Sudanese, I believe this is an area that needs a lot of awareness. Like the recent bill on cyber security. To me, I was thinking that public awareness would have been very important because some people may not know which one is supposed to be there and which one is not supposed to be there.”

Thon Dhiei Ngor emphasizes the need for enhanced protections to ensure digital rights on the internet.

“The first thing should be the law that governs the data and privacy. Because everybody is supposed to be bound by those laws. If you are a government, if you are a private individual, you are governed by that right, by that law. But now you find out that that privacy is violated every time by government agencies.”

Emmanuel Bida, a digital expert and program manager at the Excellence Foundation, says that they are advocating for data protection laws to safeguard the personal data of online users in South Sudan.

“Data protection is still, because South Sudan does not have data protection laws in place at the moment. But then when we talk about the right to privacy, the right to privacy is somehow protected when it comes to the constitution of South Sudan.”

In October, digital security experts finalized drafting the country’s first Data Protection Policy Bill.

When passed, the bill will establish the Data Protection Commission, mandated to safeguard the personal data of South Sudanese online users.

The digital security bill’s development is facilitated by Koneta Initiative and Paradigm Initiative, in collaboration with the National Communication Authority and civil society organizations.

This story is reported with a grant from Journalists for Human Rights under the Tackling Mis/Disinformation Project, funded by the Peace and Stabilization Program of the Government of Canada.