Browsing by Author "Nejat Ahmed"

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    The Legal Framework for Data Protectionin Digital Financial Services in Ethiopia: The Case of Kacha Digital Financial Services S.C
    (Addis Abebe University, 2025-01-01) Nejat Ahmed; Solomon Abay (PhD)
    This LLM thesis examines Ethiopia's regulatory landscape for personal data protection, particularly the 2024 Data Protection Proclamation's alignment with DFS practices. Using Kacha as a case study, it evaluates the effectiveness of existing laws and identifies gaps that could hinder personal data protection. While Ethiopia has made progress in establishing a specific legal framework, the research has identified many gaps, including the ambiguity surrounding generic ambiguous terms, a lack of clarity on user consent, insufficient specificity that leaves room for interpretation, a lack of awareness among data consumers, and the absence of defined norms for data processing methods that prevent adequate consumer privacy protection in DFS. This situation requires legislative revision suited to the specific difficulties of DFS and the implementation of more consumer programs. Additionally, it is admirable that the proclamation establishes a body overseeing organizations with previous functions. However, the researcher has recommended that instead of relying on an authority with pre-existing, more general responsibilities, a specialized organization for the protection of personal data be created to provide targeted, ongoing, and efficient oversight. Though the findings of the research show that Kacha is making efforts to be dedicated to regulatory compliance and make mobile money services safe, critical issues were identified such as ambiguities in obtaining customer consent, lack of DPO, a lack of transparency in data handling practices during the complaint resolution process, burden on data subjects for data breaches, hierarchical and locational data management issues and the need for more straightforward guidelines and greater transparency in both company policies and the overarching regulatory framework. These concerns highlight the significance of making the practice align with the law