High Court sitting on Tuesday morning rejected the decision by the state to roll out Huduma number cards ruling out that it was illegal.

Justice Jairus Ngaah during his ruling faulted the government for not conducting a data protection impact assessment before rolling out Huduma Number cards last year.

The High Court Has also ordered the government to carry out an impact assessment before rolling out the Huduma cards.

“Order of mandamus is hereby issued compelling the government to conduct a data protection impact assessment in accordance with Section 31 of the data protection act before processing of data and rolling out the Huduma cards,” ordered the judge.

This decision comes after Katiba Institute and law scholar Yash Pal Ghai challenged the roll out of the cards over lack of guarantees of theft of misuse of Kenyans’ personal information.

The lobby group and Yash Pal Ghai argued that the state failed to subject the fresh registration of Kenyans to data protection impact assessment (DPIA) which is a requirement under the law.

The assessment’s objectives is to flag risks that could reveal breaches of privacy, loss of data and unlawful use of information like names, date of birth, post codes and residences.

Currently, majority of Kenyans have received Huduma Namba cards after its roll out. The current national identity cards will be invalidated on December this year.

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