President Uhuru Kenyatta has appended his signature to the Data Protection Bill 2019.

Share news tips with us here at Hivisasa

This comes after the government came under immense pressure from civil society groups who called on the government to prioritise the adoption of the law.

The signing of the bill into law was announced by State House on its Twitter handle.

State House explained that the law would lead to the establishment of the office of the Data Commissioner whose duty would be to ensure that the data of Kenyans in the possession of the government is protected from theft or unlawful use.

It is not just the government that will be obligated to protect private data but also private entities in possession of that kind of data.

"President Uhuru Kenyatta has today signed into law the Data Protection Bill 2019. The new data law establishes the office of the Data Commissioner and sets out the requirements for the protection of personal data processed by both public and private entities, " State House posted on Twitter.

During the Huduma Namba exercise, there were concerns that the data collected would be compromised in the absence of the Data Protection law.

Personal information about Kenyans was collected during the national exercise that was boycotted by some people over concerns about data safety.