Amid concerns regarding the misuse of personal data collected during the cash grant registration process, Vice President Dr. Bharrat Jagdeo has reassured the public that the Ministry of Finance will not release any personal information collected.
Addressing the issue at a press conference last Thursday, Jagdeo responded to questions about the integrity and security of the data gathered for the government’s cash grant initiative.
The concerns, which have been circulating largely by the political opposition, centre on the collection of personal details such as names, identification numbers, photographs, and addresses.
Some opposition figures have suggested that the data might be misused for political gain or to infringe on citizens’ privacy.
Jagdeo was quick to dismiss these fears, emphasising that the information collected for the cash grant registration process is no different from the publicly available data on the national voters’ list, which includes over 700,000 individuals’ names and addresses.
He pointed out that such data is already accessible to political parties, thus making the outcry over the cash grant data seem exaggerated.
“This is all public data,” Jagdeo stated.
“I don’t see a single bit of information here that anyone can use for any malicious purpose. The public’s information is already out there in many forms, including the voters’ list, which contains far more details than we are collecting.”
He further assured that despite the transparency of the information, the Ministry of Finance would not release any of the personal data collected during the registration process.
This assurance comes in the context of the government’s ongoing efforts to operationalise the long-awaited Data Protection Act, which aims to safeguard citizens’ rights to privacy in an increasingly digital world.
Jagdeo also addressed concerns raised by some who feared the programme could fuel inflation or create confusion in the distribution process. He suggested that opposition parties were deliberately stoking such skepticism for political purposes, in an attempt to undermine a beneficial initiative.
“The opposition first said the government would never implement this grant. When we did, they said it would cause inflation. Now they say it should not have been done. They’re creating issues to diminish a good initiative,” he added.
To further address the public’s concerns, Jagdeo pointed to the wider legislative framework being developed by the government to protect citizens’ personal data. He referenced the introduction of privacy laws, such as the Privacy Act, alongside measures like the establishment of electronic medical records, which will also require stringent safeguards to prevent unauthorised access.
“We don’t want people’s medical records or any other sensitive information to be available to anyone without their permission,” Jagdeo remarked. “We are committed to improving our systems, but we also want to ensure that people maintain control over their own data.”
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