Today, the Digital Agenda for Tanzania Initiative, in partnership with Internews and USAID, hosted a groundbreaking Digital Rights Advocacy Engagement with leading telecommunications companies in Tanzania, including Vodacom Tanzania, Airtel Tanzania, Halotel Tanzania, and TTCL Corporation at Holiday Inn in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The event addressed key findings and recommendations from the Ranking of Digital Rights Research, focusing on digital governance, privacy, freedom of expression, and information.
Speaking to journalists today, March 1, 2024, the Director of the Digital Agenda for Tanzania Initiative, Mr. Peter Mmbando, said the meeting aimed to raise awareness of digital governance, privacy, freedom of expression, and information.
Mr. Mmbando also explained that through the meeting, they expect to create an information system that will help opt-out of advertisements and find solutions when the network is censored or shutdown.
He said many customer privacy concerns have been used without customer consent or lack of specific data protection policies, which has raised many complaints when it is discovered to be used outside of agreements.
“The company’s data collection system collects a lot of data, and you find that it is used by third parties and sold without customer consent, and when there is privacy protection, it is attractive to increase the number of investors in the country,” Mr. Mmbando said.
The meeting successfully advocated for digital issues such as privacy, freedom of expression, and information disclosure from the providers of these telecommunications services.