Listers Apologies for cross posting. In the wake of a global scare on the security of consumer data, hacking incidences (the latest is closer to home where individuals were arrested when they threatened to release confidential NIC Bank customer information). http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/-NIC-Bank-database-hacking... The Obama administration has issued far reaching guidelines on this issue. President Barack Obama wants companies to notify consumers within 30-days of a personal data breach. Despite a slew of pressing issues facing the administration and a potentially unsympathetic Republican-led congress, the White House today unveiled <http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2015/01/12/fact-sheet-safeguarding-american-consumers-families>a handful of legislative proposals aimed at safeguarding consumer privacy, continuing along a path established by its privacy and big data report published in May. The administration's Personal Data Notification and Protection Act is being pitched in part as beneficial to companies handling consumer data, since it provides a set of rules for data breaches that applies on a national level. Read on:- http://adage.com/article/privacy-and-regulation/obama-firms-notify-data-brea... I also picked an old article in the CIO Magazine about a Mass SMS Campaign by Safaricom sometime last year on behalf of the Deposit Protection Fund. See below:- http://www.cio.co.ke/news/main-stories/we-did-not-share-consumer-data,-safar... This is a good opportunity for both Govt, through policy making and security organs and the private sector to work together to create a solid framework that will enhance commerce, protect sensitive personal data and of course guard the country against external cyber-security aggression. Anyone on this list know of any such initiative? *Ali Hussein* Tel: +254 770 906375/ 713 601113 Twitter: @AliHKassim Skype: abu-jomo LinkedIn: http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim <http://ke.linkedin.com/in/alihkassim> Blog: www.alyhussein.com Any information of a personal nature expressed in this email are purely mine and do not necessarily reflect the official positions of the organizations that I work with.