Morocco, one of the pioneer countries with an integrated personal data protection system (Seghrouchni) | MAP Express

Thursday, November 10, 2022 at 6:16 PM

Rabat – Morocco is one of the pioneer countries with an integrated protection system and one of the safe destinations in the field of personal data, said Thursday in Rabat, the president of the National Control Commission Personal Data Protection (CNDP), Omar Seghrouchni.

Speaking at the opening of a study day organized by the Superior Council of the Judiciary, the Presidency of the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the Kingdom’s Mediator and the CNDP on institutional coordination and the protection of personal data, Mr. Seghrouchni recalled that Morocco’s adherence to this system is manifested by the adoption of Law 09.08 which provides for a set of legal provisions aimed at protecting identity, rights, individual and collective freedoms and private sector, as well as penalties for those who violate its provisions, whether administrative or criminal.

In addition to this law, Morocco has an important constitutional, legal and institutional framework, including article 24 of the Constitution, which reflects Morocco’s interest in the protection of personal data, in response to the increase activities relating to their storage and transfer via new technologies, he underlined.

The criminal policy of the Kingdom has also experienced significant dynamics in terms of the protection of personal data for natural persons, continued Mr. Seghrouchni, noting that to achieve the expected objectives of this dynamic, it is necessary to promote cooperation and coordination. and ensure better management of the entanglements resulting from institutional pluralism in this area, in the interests of citizens.

The interest of citizens is an objective shared by the CNDP, the Superior Council of the Judiciary (CSPJ), the Presidency of the Public Ministry and the Mediator of the Kingdom, he argued, noting that these institutions work to propose solutions. and the measures necessary to deal with the problems encountered in terms of enshrining the protection of citizens’ rights.

According to him, the protection of personal data is linked to a set of issues relating to the economy and human rights, as well as the issue of preserving digital sovereignty. In this sense, he considered that the protection of the citizen remains at the top of the priorities, in particular in a system which is constantly developing, insisting on the importance of digital trust for the attraction of foreign investment.

The speed of the digital network and its ease of use without revealing the identity of its users are often exploited for illegal and even criminal purposes by storing, transferring and exchanging personal data, which underlines the need for broaden the scope of protection of the privacy of individuals, in particular with regard to the processing of sensitive data, he further said.

The purpose of this protection is to consolidate the fundamental rights and freedoms of individuals by ensuring more legal and constitutional guarantees and to prevent invasions of privacy.

This meeting, which was attended by experts, representatives of the Ministry of Justice and various constitutional bodies and institutions and civil society actors, is part of the cooperation between the CSPJ, the Presidency of the Ministry public, the institution of the Mediator of the Kingdom and the CNDP with a view to enshrining the governance and protection of personal data according to a unified vision.

On the agenda of this meeting were two main axes relating to the means of strengthening governance in relation to users and the means of strengthening the protection of personal data in relation to governance.