Digest for the month of August 2020

Your monthly digest on all legal technology news happening around the Caribbean.

Anguilla

*        Proprietor of Thoughtful Digital Agency, Ms. Tahirah Banks, and her partner, Gino Webster, were hosts of the event simply called “Sustainable Anguilla”, with emphasis on technological advancements of Anguilla and the region for future socio-economic development and sustainability. The forum was in collaboration with the OECS under the theme “Small Islands Building Tech Industries for Sustainable Development”. Click here to read more.

Antigua and Barbuda

*        Quarantine violation has become a major headache for government, so much that they have decided to place tracking devices on all those in isolation. Click here to read more.

*        The public is being urged to remain vigilant to cybercrimes as police report a surged in offences due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Commissioner of police, Atlee Rodney, told people to exercise particular caution when conducting online transactions. Click here to read more.

Barbados

*         A call is being made for the Computer Misuse Act to be updated to deal with the behaviour of some children while online, and what they were exposed to. Click here to read more.

*         Officials are reporting an increase in fraudulent activity during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic as individuals sought to trick individuals and businesses to get money or a job. These issues came under the microscope during the 11th annual Domestic Financial Institutions conference held under the theme Customer Due Diligence, Reporting Obligations and Monitoring. Click here to read more.

*         Four criminal charges under the Computer Misuse Act were leveled against a 52-year-old man. He was accused of using a computer to send an electronic communication via social media, which was menacing in character and was intended to cause or was reckless as to cause annoyance, inconvenience, distress or anxiety to another person. Click here to read more.

Belize

*        Thе Іntеr-Аmеrісаn Ваnk аnd thе Оrgаnіzаtіоn оf Аmеrісаn Ѕtаtеѕ, іn іtѕ lаtеѕt аnnuаl rероrt оf Суbеr-ѕесurіtу іn Lаtіn Аmеrіса аnd thе Саrіbbеаn, hіghlіghtѕ thаt суbеr-ѕесurіtу іn соuntrіеѕ lіkе Веlіzе аnd оthеrѕ іn thе rеgіоn, іѕ ѕеvеrеlу lасkіng wіth ѕоmе gоvеrnmеntѕ hаvіng mаdе mоdеѕt рrоgrеѕѕ аnd оthеrѕ ѕtіll lаggіng bеhіnd іn thіѕ аrеа. Click here to read more.

Cayman Islands

*        The ombudsman has ordered the Registrar of Companies to stop collecting personal data from company shareholders who are not beneficial owners under the beneficial ownership provisions of the company registration process. The ombudsman declared that the Registrar cannot impose a “blanket” requirement without establishing a legal basis and informing the person of the reason for the data collection.  Click here to read more.

*        Cayman’s payment systems lag behind the rest of the world, and reform is needed to help businesses survive, according to Digital Cayman.  Click here to read more.

*        Documents containing confidential, sensitive information, including court records and autopsy reports, were recently found at the George Town dump by a member of the public. The watchdog responsible for the oversight of data protection, has warned that these kinds of documents should never be disposed of in this way. Click here to read more.

*        Sandra Hill, the owner of the Cayman Marl Road (CMR) website, has been convicted of abusing and harassing on an ICT network in connection with a podcast on the site and related social media, where she accused local businessman Matthew Leslie of being a sexual predator. In the first case in which the ICT law was used to prosecute a member of the media, the judge said he did not believe Hill was a proper journalist. Click here to read more.

Grenada

*        The Royal Grenada Police Force (RGPF) announced it would implement body-worn cameras for police officers by the end of September this year, urging the public to support the new initiative. Click here to read more.

Guyana

*        The Office of the President is advising the public to be aware of a fake account on social media platform Twitter, purporting to be the official account of His Excellency Dr. Mohamed Irfaan Ali. The fake account is seeking to solicit funds from unsuspecting citizens for a fake United Nations fund. Click here to read more.

Jamaica

*         Prime Minister Andrew Holness says he has plans to build a “tech city” in Portmore, St Catherine, to move forward the country's ambitions of becoming a digital society. Click here to read more.

*         In speaking about the Data Protection Act (2020) in respect of healthcare, Dr Sean Thorpe, professor and head of the School of Computing and Information Technology at the University of Technology, Jamaica said that while it is essential to make it clear that data protection can in no way be an obstacle to saving human lives, it is equally crucial to reaffirm that the exercise of human rights, and, notably, the rights to data privacy and protection, are still applicable. Click here to read more.

Trinidad & Tobago

*     Local telecom provider TSTT has lost an appeal in which it challenged a judge’s order that it be joined in a lawsuit between Columbus Communications Trinidad Ltd (CCTL) and the Telecommunication Authority of TT (TATT) over the fixed-number portability (FNP) issue. Click here to read more.

*     Police Commissioner Gary Griffith said no formal complaint is necessary in cases where threats of violence are made over social media. Griffith said he noted several inflammatory remarks being made on social media in the aftermath of the general election in which threats were aimed at supporters of various political parties and warned the public that such activity is against the law. Click here to read more.

*     Police are investigating reports that card skimmers managed to siphon off almost $300,000 from the bank accounts of 60 people over a three-day period. A police release stated that Fraud Squad investigators received reports from 60 people over a few days. Click here to read more.

*     In response to recent reports of card-skimming, the Bankers Association of TT (BATT) is urging customers to take precautions when using their bank cards, especially for transactions at point-of-sale machines and delivery transactions. Click here to read more.

Regional

*        The Economic Commission for Latin America and the Caribbean (ECLAC) has commissioned a study to review the data protection legislation of select Caribbean countries to assess the extent to which these laws are aligned with the European Union's General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) as well as international best practice in the area of data sharing. Click here to read more.

*        ECLAC has also called on regional countries to ensure universal connectivity and the affordability of digital technologies in order to address the impacts of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Click here to read more.

*        Governor of the Eastern Caribbean Central Bank Timothy Antoine said more regional and international partnerships between governments and private sector institutions were critical in developing cyber resilience and risk management against online attacks. Click here to read more.

*        The UK’s Caribbean Security and Stability Fund (CSSF) has provided EC$200,000 to 6 countries in the Eastern Caribbean to facilitate remote operations of the Magistrates Courts during the Covid-19 pandemic. Click here to read more.

Editorial

1.    Cyber Insurance – The pros and Cons

You have plans for uninterrupted efficiency and success. But sometimes the world has other plans. How do you protect against losses should there be a temporary shutdown of your business? Many businesses rely on the use of information and communications technology (ICT) systems to carry out their day-to-day activities. With an increase in the use of these systems, criminals and other malicious persons are quick to discover and exploit any associated vulnerabilities. Read more here

2.    Understanding Data Protection Standards Part 3 By Courtney Bailey

The first two parts of this article looked at five of the data protection standards established by the recently passed Data Protection Act 2020, the DPA. In this final instalment we will briefly explore the remaining three standards.

Read more here.

3.    E-Money is coming By Mark Lyndersay

On August 4th the E-money Issuer Order was brought into law as part of the Financial Institutions Act, 2008. So what, you might be asking, is e-money? It is, depending on your perspective, either a sanctioned alternative to cryptocurrency or a pre-emptive response to it. Both are fair descriptions of the technology; virtual money tied to the fiat currency of a nation state.Read more here.

Worldwide

*         Video app TikTok said yesterday it will challenge in court a Trump Administration crackdown on the popular Chinese-owned service, which Washington accuses of being a national security threat. Click here to read more.

*         Hackers and cyber-scammers are taking advantage of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic by sending fraudulent email and WhatsApp messages that attempt to trick you into clicking on malicious links or opening attachments. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), these actions can reveal your user name and password, which can be used to steal money or sensitive information. Click here to read more.

*         A study has found that at least 800 people died worldwide as a result of  coronavirus-related misinformation in the first three months of this year. A further 5,800 people were admitted to hospital after being exposed to false information on social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. Click here to read more.