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Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
JILTED lovers or ex-lovers who post nudes of their former lovers on social media without their consent face a fine of $280 000, according to the new Data Protection Act.

Social media, especially WhatsApp, was being abused by some who, if, for example, they caught their partners in a compromising position with another person, they would take pictures and videos before posting them on social media without their consent.

The new Data Protection Act makes it a criminal offence if one distributes an intimate image or video of an identifiable person without his or her consent.

For instance, taking a picture of one’s girlfriend while she is naked and then uploading it on WhatsApp is now an offence.

President Mnangagwa last week signed into law the Cyber Security and Data Protection Bill, which passed through the Senate in July 2021 and was awaiting Presidential assent. The new legislation called ‘Data Protection Act (Chapter 11:12)’ was signed on Friday.

Among other provisions, the statute seeks to provide for data protection with due regard to the Declaration of Rights enshrined in the Constitution and to uphold public and national interests.

It will also see the creation of the Data Protection Authority, which would replace the Postal Telecommunication Regulatory Authority of Zimbabwe (Potraz).

The new authority shall be mandated to, among other functions, regulate the manner in which personal information held by access providers such as Econet, NetOne, and Telecel may be processed. The authority to be established under the new law will also be tasked with setting rules, giving authorisation for and governing whistle-blowing systems in the interest of fairness, lawfulness, and transparency.

The legislation will create and promote a technology-driven business environment and encourage technology development and the lawful use of tech gadgets.

The new Act criminalises offences such as the transmission of data messages inciting violence or damage to property, sending threatening data messages, hacking, cyber-bullying and posting of sexually explicit content without the consent of the data subject.

Further, it will penalise the production and dissemination of racist and xenophobic materials, child sexual abuse materials and child pornography.

“Transmission of intimate images without consent (1) Any person who unlawfully and intentionally by means of a computer or information system makes available, broadcasts or distributes a data message containing any intimate image or video of an identifiable person without the consent of the person concerned or with recklessness as to the lack of consent of the person concerned, with the aim of causing the humiliation or embarrassment of such person shall be guilty of an offence and liable to a fine not exceeding level 10 or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding five years or to both such fine and such imprisonment.”

For the purposes of subsection (1) “intimate image” means a visual depiction of a person made by any means in which the person is nude, the genitalia or naked female breasts are exposed or sexual acts are displayed,” reads part of the Act.

Level 10 fine is $280 000.

Commenting on the new law, prominent Gweru lawyer Mr Esau Mandipa of Mutatu and Mandipa Legal Practice said: “This is a new law which criminalises the distribution for example of intimate image or video of an identifiable person without his or her consent. For example, I take a picture of my girlfriend while she is nude and when we end the affair I then upload the image on WhatsApp to fix her, I will be guilty of an offence.”

Mr Mandipa said taking people having sexual intercourse without their consent is now a criminal offence.

“If you take a video of people having sexual intercourse and you post them without their consent, it’s criminal. When you find your wife having sex with her boyfriend and you record a video which you then post on social media, it’s criminal again. The law seeks to punish those who abuse the social media, internet and communication networks,” he said.

The Act also aims at making the growing financial digital systems and e-commerce more efficient and better protected. It brings together the laws for the necessary protection of personal and commercial data and puts in place the growing body of international standards to prevent cybercrime.

Information Communication Technology, Postal and Courier Services Minister, Dr Jenfan Muswere, said the law seeks to see the evolution of criminal law to take into account fast-evolving technologies and curb the abuse of networks and the internet.

“The law on computer services is limited in its scope and application due to the technological developments considering the fact that cybercrime is borderless.

“It is of paramount importance that the national laws be harmonised and in the private sense of the financial institutions and other several interventions, the law needs to be strengthened,” said Minister Muswere.