|
It will specify how data can be stored and shared and will take
into account standards set by data protection laws outside Kenya
including in the European Union, Mucheru said.
The government estimates that mobile phone-based financial firms
are lending more than 15 billion Kenya shillings ($148.51
million) daily, he said.
"We cannot ignore the fact that we have become a digital economy
and therefore we need to have all the protections that are
needed," he told Reuters.
The draft is the latest attempt to regulate a growing number of
phone-based lenders who range from large Kenyan firms like
Safaricom, which partners with local lenders, to start-ups
several of which are backed by Silicon Valley investors.
"It is something that we must do as a country," the minister
said. The bill be published within two weeks and the ministry
will develop a final version after input from the industry and
the public, before it is presented to parliament.
The EU's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), adopted last
month, is seen as a landmark law that gives EU citizens new
rights over how their personal data are used.
As it was for mobile money systems, Kenya is something of a test
case for the new lending platforms.
The finance ministry published another draft bill last month
aimed at reining in the high interest rates charged by some of
those lenders on their loans to customers.
(Editing by Maggie Fick and Matthew Mpoke Bigg)
[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights
reserved.] Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published,
broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.
 |
|
