What is the Ghanaian Act?

The Ghanaian Act protects individuals' privacy and personal data by regulating the processing of personal information and defines the processes to obtain, hold, use, or disclose personal information, as well as related matters. The Ghanaian Act establishes, among other things, mandatory breach notifications, data processor obligations, registration prior to processing, and a broad range of data subject rights.

Key highlights

The Ghanaian Act and the GDPR, although distinct in their origins, share certain fundamental concepts and approaches within the realm of data protection:

• have comparable definitions for concepts such as 'data controller,' 'data processor,' and 'personal data;'
• set out similar legal grounds for processing; and
• establish accountability as a fundamental principle.

However, despite their similarities, the Ghanaian Act and the GDPR also differ sometimes in their approach, such as:

• the Ghanaian Act does not explicitly define or refer to anonymization and pseudonymization;
• the Ghanaian Act does not establish a separate set of requirements governing data transfers;
• unlike the GDPR, the Ghanaian Act does not directly refer to data processing record-keeping obligations;
• the Ghanaian Act does not establish an equivalent concept to a data protection impact assessment (DPIA); and
• the Ghanaian Act also establishes imprisonment as a potential sanction.