Jamaica has a strong and relatively new legal framework for data protection: the Data Protection Act, 2020 (DPA). This landmark legislation, fully operational since December 2023, mirrors many aspects of the European Union's GDPR, marking a significant shift in how personal information is handled within Jamaican borders. Key aspects relevant to phone numbers include:
data" as any information relating to a living individual, which unequivocally includes phone numbers. It also applies to individuals who have been deceased for less than 30 years.
Lawfulness and Fairness of Processing: Personal data must be processed lawfully, fairly, and in a transparent manner. This means individuals must be clearly informed about how their phone numbers will be used.
Prior, Explicit Consent: For most processing activities, particularly for direct marketing, the DPA requires informed, specific, unequivocal, and freely given consent from the data subject. This is a malta phone number library crucial barrier to the creation and use of unsolicited phone number lists.
Purpose Limitation: Personal data must be collected for specified, explicit, and legitimate purposes and not further processed in a manner incompatible with those purposes.
Data Minimization: Only data that is adequate, relevant, and limited to what is necessary for the purposes of processing should be collected.
Data Accuracy and Retention: Personal data must be accurate and kept up to date, and not retained for longer than necessary.
Data Subject Rights: The DPA empowers individuals with significant rights over their personal data, including:
Right to Access: To know what data an organization holds about them.
Right to Object to Processing: To prevent or cease processing of their data, particularly for direct marketing, by written notice.
Right to Rectification: To correct inaccurate or incomplete data.
Right to Erasure (Deletion): To request the deletion of their personal data under certain circumstances.
Right to Portability: To request their data be transmitted to another controller in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format.
Information Commissioner: The DPA establishes the Information Commissioner as the independent regulatory authority responsible for enforcing the Act, investigating complaints, and maintaining a Register of Data Controllers. Data controllers (entities processing personal data) are required to register with the Commissioner and pay an annual fee.