Africa-Press – Angola. The executive director of the Data Protection Agency (APD), Paulo Pedro, warned of the need to protect the personal information of internet users and other services, to prevent criminal situations.
The person in charge was speaking during the II Consultative Council of the Ministry of Telecommunications, Information Technologies and Social Communication (MINTTICS) held over two days in the city of Huambo, held under the motto “Connect and Communicate for Citizenship”. Paulo Pedro
clarified that if citizens have their personal data exposed in companies and on the internet without any consent, they must automatically make reports to hold their authors criminally responsible.
The person in charge explained that the APD seeks to monitor personal data in public and private companies, based on virtual images, fingerprints, voices, documents and other individual information mechanisms, creating security mechanisms.
He recalled that to avoid possible criminal acts, any identity or company must always be careful to accurately detail the objectives of requests for personal data and the purpose of the process in question, to discourage criminal acts.
He specified that in situations of cyber attacks on companies, for example, managers only have 72 hours to notify the Data Protection Agency, without this procedure, these institutions must be held responsible for the dispersion of workers’ personal data.
He warned that there are prize announcements via telephone and other internet devices in the country, without citizens knowing the mechanism used that exposes their personal data to supposed companies, many of them with fake profiles.
To this end, it clarified that the population must have the culture of questioning the reasons for requests for personal data and, consequently, seeking to know the purposes of such requests, in a process of consents and authorizations.
APD, established in 2019, acts through complaints and successive inspections carried out in public and private companies throughout the national territory.
In the province of Huambo, identity theft is frequently observed to create false profiles on the internet, especially of public figures, with the collection of documents and requests for monetary values.
During the event, five panels were discussed on the MINTTICS strategic plan and projects, with emphasis on the challenges of the Telecommunications and Information Technologies and Social Communication subsector, ongoing projects and programs, staffing and career plan.
There was also talk about the Angolan Executive’s national institutional communication plan, the sector’s legislative and spatial program, the Angola Hoje portal and TV Angola, modernization and challenges of public companies in the sector, as well as their experience and challenges.
The meeting was attended by the secretaries of State of MINTTICS, boards of directors of companies in the sector, national directors and general directors of supervised institutions, consultants, directors of the Institutional Communication offices, press attachés, directors of the provincial Social Communication offices and partner associations.
For More News And Analysis About Angola Follow Africa-Press
