KICTANet’s Gender Programme delivered impactful data protection training for vulnerable groups in Mombasa in May 2025, targeting demographics disproportionately affected by arbitrary surveillance, data misuse, and online gender-based violence (OGBV), as identified in our earlier research on Data Protection from a Gender Perspective.
Success Story
Yesterday, we received feedback from a beneficiary of our training who experienced data breach and applied the strategies that we shared in the workshop. He filed a complaint with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) in November as we had guided. This month, he was awarded damages.
We were also joined then by the Mombasa Office of the Data Protection Commissioner (ODPC) and our partner, Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit GmbH who supported the project. The attendees were taken through simplified key legal frameworks governing data protection. The key takeaway here was that the Data Protection Act, 2019 protects individuals (not companies) as data subjects and sets out rights, responsibilities, and penalties.
The training informed the beneficiaries that fines for violations can run into millions of shillings or lead to enforcement notices. Participants learned how to identify data controllers and processors and file complaints effectively in case of violations.
This is an example of the real impact that the KICTANet’s targeted training on data protection continues to document. Kenya still needs simplified and localised versions for easier understanding among the general public. Further outcomes from our work on strengthening women’s online safety and data protection are the Guidebook on Data Protection and Privacy from a Gender Perspective and a comic strip on women and data.