I was recently in a well organised cybercrime training workshop by the Government of Ghana at the La Palm Royal Beach Hotel which saw participation from several stakeholders in the ICT industry in Ghana. While i enjoyed very much the discussions that went on during the workshop, and I am sure I will later share most of them on this blog, I was tempted to probe further one particular statement a lawyer made which I want to discuss here and hopefully you can help me out.
This lawyer, and from his presentation a learned one, said that immigration personnel in Ghana are not adequately trained to search laptops and their electronic contents. Now, that raised my red flags and warranted the following question from me; Can the immigration personnel on duty actually check the contents on my laptop at the border or point of entry?
I ask this question because it raises serious concerns about people’s freedoms. I cannot pretend to know the law but I sure know that Freedom of Speech, rights of privacy and others are upheld by our constitution. So what law would allow the immigration officer to search the electronic contents of my laptop? Don’t I have any rights to my privacy especially when there is no reasonably suspicion hanging over my head? I think I do and will definitely like to test this is court. The Constitution of the Republic of Ghana states in Article 18 (2) that “No person shall be subjected to interference with the privacy of his home, property, correspondence or communication except in accordance with law and as may be necessary in a free and democratic society for public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the protection of the rights or freedoms of others”.
On the other hand, what if some miscreant (peadophile) decides to come into this country with nude pictures and videos of children on his laptop? How can we stop such persons - without infringing on the privacy of others with genuine confidential files on their laptops - who can upload these contents on the Internet from here in Ghana since he will be difficult to trace.
If indeed there are laws that allow these officials to search the electronic content on my laptop, how can we make sure my private correspondence, financial records, medical records and business records are not seen by anyone during this so called search? I want answers to these questions.
this is a very interesting piece by all standards, you have raised a very important issue; laws should be enacted to check contents of laptops. Terrorist attack plans, robbery, scam etc are all planned on PCs and for that if contents are checked some of these crimes would be minimal. keep the fire burning
If the older of a laptop knows that he does not have anything to hide, why should he or she be worried about immigration officers scrutinizing it’s contents. Immigration officials, go ahead and search everybody including even the president.
Daniel, thank you for your comment. You may be right but someone can possibly take the immigration to court for invading on privacy, for example for viewing health records, no?
Agoloso, lol! long time no hear, hope u good and thanks for the comments. You make very valid points but how about the individuals privacy and freedoms?