Privacy by Design: protecting data from the very start of a project
How to move from legal theory to the concrete application of the principles.
With Prince GBE and Ibrahim DOUMBOUYA • Episode in French
What is Privacy by Design?
Privacy by Design, or data protection by design, means building personal data protection into the very first stages of a project (an application, an information system, a digital service), rather than treating it as a fix applied after the fact.
It goes hand in hand with Privacy by Default (data protection by default): only the data strictly necessary for the stated purpose is processed, without the data subject having to take any action to be protected.
From legal theory to practice
This episode of the Africa Data Talk audio podcast looks at the question many African organisations are asking: how do you put this principle into practice when running a project? Key levers include:
- Minimisation: only collect the data that is genuinely useful for the defined purpose.
- Impact assessment: evaluate the risks to individuals before the processing begins.
- Built-in security: encryption, pseudonymisation and access management designed into the architecture.
- Retention periods: plan from the outset for the deletion or anonymisation of data.
- Transparency: inform people clearly and make it easy for them to exercise their rights.
The speakers
This podcast was produced with:
- Prince GBE, Data Privacy and AI consultant.
- Ibrahim DOUMBOUYA, senior GRC consultant.
Why it matters in Africa
With national data protection laws multiplying across the continent and supervisory authorities becoming increasingly active, building data protection in from the design stage is becoming a mark of compliance, trust and competitiveness. Find the applicable laws country by country in the Africa Data Talk law observatory.