Rebooting democracy? Political data mining and biometric voter registration in Africa
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Taylor & Francis
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Abstract. Full Text Article available at: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/13600834.2017.1321097
The introduction of biometric voter registration and biometric voter identification on Election Day is a new trend in most African countries. This development in turn has necessitated massive political data mining. Yet, the nexus between elections and technology poses challenges on protection of personal information. This article offers a critical discussion of legal and regulatory frameworks that govern protection of personal information in an election context. Using the international standards for personal data protection and lessons from Kenya and Ghana, it notes that Tanzania does not have a systematic regime for personal data protection. This leaves voters’ personal data without adequate protection. Accordingly, the adoption of the biometric technology in the process of registration of voters creates greater potentials for violations of personal data than it was the case with the optical mark recognition technology.
The introduction of biometric voter registration and biometric voter identification on Election Day is a new trend in most African countries. This development in turn has necessitated massive political data mining. Yet, the nexus between elections and technology poses challenges on protection of personal information. This article offers a critical discussion of legal and regulatory frameworks that govern protection of personal information in an election context. Using the international standards for personal data protection and lessons from Kenya and Ghana, it notes that Tanzania does not have a systematic regime for personal data protection. This leaves voters’ personal data without adequate protection. Accordingly, the adoption of the biometric technology in the process of registration of voters creates greater potentials for violations of personal data than it was the case with the optical mark recognition technology.
Keywords
Biometric voter registration, Voting, Democracy, Tanzania, Privacy, Personal information, Biometric technology, Election day