Protection of Data of Enterprises under Cameroonian Law: A Critical Appraisal

Abstract

Data protection has always been a thorny and controversial issue in the world at large and in all domains of human existence. In the present context of digitalisation and globalisation, the phenomenon for the data protection has been an unfavourable factor for the growth or downfall of an enterprise. In many areas of the world, especially in the industrialised and developed countries, there are strong legal dispositions to protect individual, collective, and enterprise data. However, in the under developed countries, the idea of data protection is a challenging  venture because in most cases, the principles that are created with the intention of protecting data of enterprises, lacks well defined checks and balances or a robust mechanism for accountability, potentially resulting in breaches of enterprise data. This has therefore inspired this work to pose a question as to what extent does the legal provisions on data protection provides for the protection of data of enterprises in the country Cameroon? The fundamental objective of this research is to examine the extent to which the legal provisions on data protection effectively enable for the protection of data of enterprises in Cameroon. To meet the objective of this study and address the problem, data was collected through the exploitation  secondary sources of information. In treatment of the data, findings revealed that the raison d’etre for the inadequate and insufficient nature of data protection of enterprises in Cameroon is due to the insufficient nature of the data protection legislation in Cameroon, and the non-concerned nature of the owners of enterprises in Cameroon when it concerns the protection of data. In this light, it is recommended that the Government of Cameroon legislates’ laws that satisfactorily guarantee the protection of enterprise data.