Revamped terms of using social media begin Friday

Your relationship with Facebook, Twitter, Google and other major tech companies is set to change from Friday when the firms roll out new privacy rules as dictated by the European Union (EU).

Before Facebook users continue using the social network, they will be required to input fresh settings on information to share with advertisers. This could be to display religious, political and relationship information to the public.

Twitter will want an assurance that anyone who posts any material will have the rights to the content while Google will break down its privacy policy so much that it will have videos and illustrations to accompany the often mundane document.

IN PHASES

All that is towards satisfying a set of mandatory regulations called the General Data Protection Regulation that were adopted by EU states in 2016 and which will take effect on Friday. They have the same status as a law that has passed through the Parliament of any of the EU countries.

While Twitter and Google say they will roll out changes in Europe and everywhere else, Facebook says it will bring out the changes in phases.

“As part of our phased approach, people in the rest of the world will be asked to make their choices on a slightly later schedule, and we’ll present the information in the ways that make the most sense for other regions,” says an April 17 statement from Facebook chiefs Erin Egan and Ashlie Beringer.

The revamped terms of using social media will take effect at a time when Kenya is under a new regime in terms of information shared on social media after President Uhuru Kenyatta on Wednesday assented into law the Computer and Cybercrimes Bill, 2017.

FAKE NEWS

In theory, it means a Kenyan’s personal information will be more protected by technology companies as they promise to be more open on how they collect and use it. But on the other hand, they will be under increased scrutiny by the government because such transgressions as spreading fake news and cyber-bullying will be heavily penalised.

One of the reliefs Kenyans will be enjoying especially from Google from Friday is what has been termed the right to be forgotten.

It gives individuals leeway to ask the search engine to delete results that may refer to a past dark that is no longer relevant.

BE FORGOTTEN

As it stands today, if you commit a headline-grabbing crime then you are arrested, tried and jailed for it, for decades to come, anyone who googles your name will be reminded of the one time you hit headlines for your mistake — even if you reformed.

After the new EU regulations come into effect to replace a set of provisions that had been in place since 1995, the right to be forgotten will be guarantee to all Europeans in the union.

But are Kenyans also bound to enjoy that privilege?

Dr Isaac Rutenberg, a senior lecturer at Strathmore University’s Law school and the director of the institution’s Centre for Intellectual Property Law, told the Sunday Nation that so far, the right to be forgotten mostly applies to Europeans.

DEFAMATION

“At the moment, it has no bearing in Kenya. If someone were to try suing Google under the same principle, I think it will be difficult to imagine a way that could work. But I’m sure lawyers will find something,” said Dr Rutenberg.

“At the moment, you will need to go through a whole court process and have a court declare that sort of thing in Kenya first,” he added.

Kirinyaga Governor Anne Waiguru through a case at the High Court came close to raising the right to be forgotten, only that her case bordered more on defamation.

Ms Waiguru in 2014 sought to have Google reveal the individuals behind a blog accused of posting falsehoods about her