Digest for the month of February 2020
Your monthly digest on all legal technology news happening around the Caribbean.
Bahamas
* The Central Bank governor John Rolle yesterday confirmed that the digital Bahamian dollar will be rolled-out throughout all islands during the 2020 second half after being introduced to Abaco by month's end. Project Sand Dollar, he said, will be extended to Abaco to "accelerate the provision of financial services needed to support business sector recovery". Click here to read more.
Barbados
* Barbadians will not be paying taxes twice when online international companies start collecting value-added tax (VAT). That is according to Minister in the Ministry of Finance Ryan Straughn. Click here to read more.
* Barbadians applying for a Police Certificate of Character will now have a faster and easier way to do so when the service goes online. Click here to read more.
* After several false starts, the Mia-Mottley administration appears to have made another major breakthrough in its bid to collect Value Added Tax (VAT) on online purchases. Amazon Web Services (AWS) agreed that it would begin to charge Value Added Tax at a rate of 17.5% to Barbadian customers. Click here to read more.
British Virgin Islands
* Premier Andrew Fahie has denounced allegations which suggests that the recently assented-to Computer Misuse and Cybercrime (Amendment) Act of 2019 is geared towards stifling freedom of speech in the territory. Click here to read more.
* Premier Andrew Fahie has again come to the defence of his government’s controversial Cybercrime Amendment Act; this time pointing to an individual who was publicly singled out by some members of the public as a person suspected of carrying the coronavirus in the BVI. Click here to read more.
Guyana
* The Supreme Court of Judicature (SCJ) has refuted an article published in the Kaieteur News about alleged shortcomings in the Court’s Information and Technology (IT) Department. According to a SCJ release, it noted the appearance of an article in the Kaieteur News of February 3, 2020 captioned “Digital court registry crashes… No back-up system available.” Click here to read more.
Jamaica
* People's National Party (PNP) Shadow Minister of National Security, Fitz Jackson says the issue of cyber security must be treated as a major concern especially for small island states, which are often targeted by money launderers, scammers and narcotics traffickers. Click here to read more.
* The roll-out of the controversial national identification system, NIDS, is receiving strong support from the umbrella private sector group, the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica, PSOJ. Click here to read more.
* Technology Minister Fayval Williams has said a decision was made to conduct a raid at the telecoms firm Caricel after the company failed to adhere to cease and desist letters from the Spectrum Management Authority. Click here to read more.
* Victoria Mutual Wealth Management says that it is reviewing its systems following a major data breach at the financial institution. Click here to read more.
St. Lucia
* The Royal Saint Lucia Police Force announced that it was investigating a matter where someone threatened to harm the police via Facebook. Click here to read more.
Trinidad & Tobago
* Thanks to the deployment of GPS and drone technology, real-time information was provided to the police service's operational command centres has resulted in the successful suppression of crime in Carnival epicentres this year. Click here to read more.
* Information on sexual offenders can be shown on an online website for the public to access their names, addresses, photographs and offences committed. Click here to read more.
Editorial
1. How to avoid a personal data – Legal Notes by Samantha Moore
The recent inadvertent disclosure of personal data at some major financial institutions in Jamaica has signalled the need for organisations to take a very robust approach to the way in which they handle the personal data of customers. Organisations may face significant penalties and fines for failing to properly handle the personal data of its customers in a safe, secure, and confidential manner. Read more here.
Around the World
* Failure to reach a global deal on where and how much to tax digital giants such as Google, Amazon or Facebook would result in many digital tax regimes emerging all over the world. Click here to read more.
* Japanese finance minister Taro Aso criticized on a U.S. tax reform proposal that he said could undermine global efforts to agree new rules on taxing big tech companies. Click here to read more.
