Liberia’s concession settlement with Liberia Visitors Administration Included (LTMI) was heralded as a step towards modernizing public sector companies, together with automobile registration, driver’s licensing, and visitors enforcement. However a detailed examination reveals that, as at present drafted, this contract opens the nation and its residents to profound dangers—primarily as a result of it lacks vital protections relating to information possession, oversight, and technological sustainability.
By George Ok. Fahnbulleh, [email protected], Contributing Author
Evident Shortfalls in Knowledge Possession and Safety
On the coronary heart of the settlement’s shortcomings is the efficient ceding of management over delicate nationwide datasets—together with biometric and geographic info—to a personal, foreign-led vendor. Nowhere does the contract explicitly state that each one information generated stays the unique property of the Authorities of Liberia. Nor does it set up ironclad necessities for native information storage or a assure of knowledge repatriation.
The potential penalties are grave:
- If the contract is terminated or LTMI experiences enterprise disruption, the destiny of those citizen datasets stays undefined.
- Knowledge might be transferred or saved exterior of Liberian jurisdiction, undermining nationwide sovereignty and putting delicate info past the attain of Liberian regulation.
- Residents lose company and authorized recourse relating to how their private info is accessed, shared, and even commercialized.
Oversight and Accountability: An Unacceptable Vacuum
The contract additional compounds these dangers by diluting the Ministry of Transport’s statutory oversight position. Operational management is granted to LTMI with none enforceable requirement for: - Common authorities audits of knowledge use and cyber-security practices;
- Impartial, third-party safety assessments and clear reporting;
- Recourse or remediation for Liberian residents in instances of breach, misuse, or unauthorized information publicity.
Merely put, there are not any mechanisms for both the federal government or the general public to scrutinize or maintain the seller accountable for the stewardship of citizen information.
Technological Sustainability and Vendor Lock-In
In its present type, the settlement offers no significant pathway for expertise switch, supply code escrow, or capability constructing amongst Liberian officers. There are:
- No necessities for coaching authorities workers to handle or function important methods;
- No contingency for reversion of technical property or information within the occasion of contract termination;
- No trendy necessities for encryption, cybersecurity requirements, or breach notifications.
This not solely makes the federal government depending on LTMI for day-to-day public digital companies, but in addition dangers creating everlasting vendor lock-in with spiraling prices, restricted system adaptability, and hamstrung nationwide cybersecurity.
Concrete Dangers for Liberian Residents
- Private, driver, and automobile information might be accessed, misused, or bought by non-public or international actors, with out residents’ information or consent.
- There is no such thing as a assure of notification or treatment if a knowledge breach exposes people’ delicate info.
- Nationwide safety and civil rights are left dangerously uncovered, as neither authorities nor residents can correctly management or monitor the utilization of their very own information.
The Path Ahead: Important Contract Reforms
To handle these vital gaps and defend each nationwide sovereignty and residents’ rights, the LTMI settlement have to be amended within the following methods:
- Enshrine State Knowledge Possession and Residency
All information generated below this settlement, particularly private, biometric, and geographic information, should stay the unique property of the Authorities of Liberia. No information could also be processed, saved, or transmitted exterior Liberia with out specific, written consent from a nationwide authority.
- Mandate Authorities Oversight and Audit Rights
The Ministry of Transport (or an impartial regulator) have to be granted unrestricted audit rights over all information methods and processes, with necessary annual third-party safety audits—and public reporting of outcomes.
- Require Robust Knowledge Safety and Breach Notification
LTMI should adjust to up-to-date information safety requirements, together with encryption-at-rest and in-transit, penetration testing, and breach notification inside 48 hours, with full authorities oversight and required remediation steps.
- Construct Native Capability and Require Expertise Escrow
The settlement should mandate expertise switch—together with personnel coaching, supply code escrow, and full entry to technical documentation—so all methods and information will be transitioned to direct authorities management inside three years.
- Assure Contractual Termination and Knowledge Repatriation
Upon contract expiration or early termination, LTMI should guarantee safe, uncompromised handover of all information, credentials, and technical property to the federal government—at no further price and with full documentation.
Conclusion:
Liberia’s future as a digital nation is determined by upholding the rights and privateness of its residents. With out speedy reforms to the LTMI concession settlement—guaranteeing state information possession, clear oversight, and technological sovereignty—the nation dangers buying and selling short-term modernization for long-term vulnerability. The federal government and its companions should act decisively to safe Liberia’s digital future for this technology and the following.
