loaning company Ceres Tech popularly known as Rocketpesa
Online loaning company Ceres Tech popularly known as Rocketpesa could be in trouble after the office of the Data Protection Commissioner sought court orders to investigate the firm.
The Data Protection Commissioner sought the order following a complaint lodged by Antony Kinoti alleging various violations of the Data Protection Act.
In the application, the Data Protection Commissioner sought a warrant to access, inspect, and investigate as well as carry certified copies of the company’s digital and manual records system about records from November 2023 to date.
“This Court be pleased to issue a search warrant to Maryanne Serem, an Investigation Officer, with the Office of the Data Protection Commissioner, or any other officer attached to and authorized by the Data Commissioner, to have access to, inspect, investigate, obtain information, lift and carry away as exhibits certified copies of the Rocketpesa’s digital and manual records, system(s) and database(s),” the application stated/
The commissioner said the investigator needed to conduct a proper and comprehensive investigation to establish the availability, status, or security of the data subject’s data that forms the substratum of the complaint.
The Data Protection Commissioner told the court that Rocketpesa or its authorized agents are storing the personal data of data subjects in their database which was vulnerable to loss, modification, or deletion in the context of the Complaint under investigation.
“Unless the orders sought herein are granted, the personal data, the subject of the complaint herein, is at risk of loss, modification or deletion,” the Data Commissioner told the court.
The search warrant will facilitate the ongoing investigations and will enable it to make a fair determination based on the complaints lodged against the digital lender.
The Deputy Data Protection Commissioner Oscar Otieno said in an affidavit that Sections 60 and 66 of the Data Protection Act allow the office to obtain a search warrant and a preservatory order for the expeditious preservation of personal data, in discharging its functions.
Otieno stated that the information the Data commissioner has received indicates that the personal data of the complainant and the details of Rocketpesa’s mobile phone numbers are stored in Rocketpesa’s computers or database at their offices located at Rafiki Business Park, Ruaraka, Nairobi.
“The search in the office of the Respondent (Rocketpesa) will assist in the investigations being carried out by the Data commissioner and will enable the office to access and peruse the computers or database(s) of the Respondent,” Otieno said.
The officer said the information obtained will be used to confirm whether or not the alleged mobile phone number used to contact the Complainant belongs to Rocketpesa or its agents.
The information will also to find out whether the Complainant’s name, mobile phone number, and National Identification Card number exist in the Rocket’s digital and manual records.
Otieno told the court that the Data Protection Commissioner believes that Rocket is likely to tamper with, erase, or delete the information contained in its database which would frustrate the investigations.
