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The Minister of Communications, Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, has issued a stern-warning to persons impersonating ministers by using their names on Facebook to swindle Ghanaians to stop their criminal activities.

The minister has also cautioned the general public and social media users on Facebook especially, to be circumspect and report anybody claiming or using the name of a minister of state to demand money for favor.

Speaking to the Daily Heritage on the sidelines of the 2017 Data Protection Conference in Accra, the Minister further explained that "some people have opened Facebook accounts in the names of ministers and are swindling people by demanding monies from them."

"Let me use this opportunity to clear the air; there is no minister giving employment to anybody on Facebook. No minister is organizing a conference on Facebook and so if you are befriending a minister on Facebook and you realize the person is impersonating the minister. He is an armed robber," she stated.

Addressing the Conference on the theme 'Safeguarding Fundamental Human Rights through Data Protection,' shes aid in today's digital world, personal data is the fuel that drives commercial activity online.

"How this data is obtained and used has raised concerns regarding privacy and security of information. The president regulatory environment on protection of data is far from ideal," she stated.

We have a home
The Chairperson of the Data Protection Commission, Mrs. Teki Akuetteh Falconer, said the commission, despite the many challenges confronting it now, has a place to call home.

"We had hitherto been housed in the old Ministry of Communications building (a space that could not accommodate more than five personnel). With funding support from the e-Transform project, we have been able to rent and furnish the 4th Floor of Ramia House, Adabraka-Accra to house our offices.

"The office is finished and has staff seating capacity of more than 35 and expected to accommodate any future recruitment of staff for the period the Commission will be occupying it. This new working environment has significantly boosted the morale of all staff.

"In order to enable us to properly measure the impact of the work of the commission, especially in the area of awareness creation, we are in collaboration with the Ghana Statistical Service to undertake a baseline survey under the Ghana Living Standards Survey to properly assess interest and knowledge on privacy and data protection in the country.

"We are expecting the final report in 2018. This report will enable the commission empirically to assess its impact in the country. One of the major areas of challenges has been in the area of complaints," she added.

According to her, as at the last conference, the Commission had registered a little over 300 data controllers and processors. Currently, "we have registered more than 800 data controllers and processors. Out of this number, we have to approve and issue registration certificates to about 600 and reject 91 with 95 application pending."