On 1 May 2023, the Personal Data Protection Act 11 of 2022 came into effect in Tanzania, marking a significant step forward for data protection in the country. The Act was enacted into law in November 2022 and seeks to establish minimum requirements for the collection and processing of personal information with the aim of protecting the right to privacy. It establishes offences for the unlawful disclosure of personal information, illegal destruction, deletion, concealment, or altering of personal information, and sets penalties for individuals, organizations, and officers who commit these offences. The Act also provides for the following among other things:

• It  establishes the Personal Data Protection Commission which will be responsible to ensure implementation of the provisions of the Act
• It provides for registration of the collectors and processors of personal data
• It provides for principles relating to collection, use, disclosure and storage of personal data
• It provides for transfer of personal data outside Tanzania and the rights of data subjects

Concomitant to the entry into force of the Data Protection Act, the government of Tanzania also recently promulgated two Data Protection Regulations which came into operation on 12 May 2023. These are the Personal Data Collection and Processing Regulations, G.N No. 349 of 2023 (Data Collection Regulations) and the Complaint Handling and Breach of Personal Data Regulations, G.N No. 350 of 2023 (Complaint Handling Regulations) (collectively, the Regulations). The Regulations are intended to regulate, among other things, the collection and processing of data and procedures for presenting complaints under the Parent Act