Search Results for: ICT

International civil society watchdog CIVICUS added Bangladesh on Thursday to its CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist and rated the civic space in Bangladesh as “repressed,” the watchdog’s second lowest rating. The CIVICUS Monitor Watchlist rates the civic space of jurisdictions based on expression, peaceful assembly and freedom of association. CIVICUS stated it added Bangladesh to its watchlist because [...]

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The Kenyan government halted all Worldcoin-related activities on Wednesday while it conducted a thorough inquiry into the project’s legality and data protection practices. Founded by OpenAI’s Sam Altman, Worldcoin is an identity cryptosystem that aims to provide everyone with access to the global economy. Individuals who wish to use Worldcoin must first obtain a WorldID [...]

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Authorities raided the home of Belgian Socialist Member of the European Parliament (MEP) Maria Arena on Wednesday as part of the ongoing “Qatargate” investigations that have rocked the European Parliament since they began in 2022. Arena made a statement through her attorney confirming the search and denying any wrongdoing. The Federal Prosecutor’s Office also confirmed [...]

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With the recent resurgence of discussions surrounding digital identification in Kenya, it is time to take a closer look at the potential benefits and associated risks. In October 2021, the National Integrated Identity Management System (NIIMS) introduced in January 2019 and popular as ‘Huduma Namba’, was declared illegal by the High Court for conflicting with [...]

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Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta Tuesday declined to sign the controversial Information Communication Technology (ICT) practitioners bill into law. The bill seeks to have all ICT practitioners registered and licensed by a professional ICT body. Kenyatta made this decision at a ceremony where he signed 10 other parliamentary bills into law. Kenyatta said that Clauses 24 and [...]

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On 10th December, 2021, the High Court of Kenya in the Commercial and Tax Division gave a landmark decision on the question of withholding payment of tax on software licenses in the case pitting Seven Seas Technologies Limited (the appellant) against the Commissioner for Domestic Taxes (the respondent). The appellant is an ICT company that [...]

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The legislation and judiciary committee (“the committee”) of South Korea’s National Assembly on Wednesday approved a bill banning app store operators such as Apple and Google from charging software developers commissions on in-app purchases. The bill is an amendment of the Telecommunications Business Act and seeks to prevent app-store operators from unfairly using their market [...]

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One of the focal points of the government health response to COVID-19 in India has been the extensive use of mobile phone applications such as the Aarogya Setu for contact tracing and quarantine. The applications have already been subject to widespread criticism for insufficient protection of user data. Notwithstanding the role of mobile phone applications, [...]

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