Digest for the month of January 2021
Your monthly digest on all legal technology news happening around the Caribbean.
Antigua and Barbuda
The Government will be seeking to amend the Antigua and Barbuda Sales Tax Act to include taxes for online purchases. Click here to read more.
Bahamas
Attorney General and Minister of Legal Affairs Senator the Hon. Carl W. Bethel stated that in response to the COVID-19 Pandemic, the Court of Appeal introduced remote hearings by the Zoom digital platform to dispose of criminal and civil cases, and has drafted a Practice Direction which sets out how digital hearings would occur. The existing case database (CAIS) was upgraded to allow for instantaneous electronic uploading of all court documents. Click here to read more.
The Central Bank of The Bahamas (CBOB) expects to have fully rolled out Sand Dollar cross-platform interoperability authorized wallet providers within the first few months of the year. The rollout will coincide with the bank’s plan to increase public access to the digital currency. Click here to read more.
Barbados
Barbadians could be getting their chip-based national identification cards sooner than expected, as the Government seeks out a fresh approach to tackle challenges relating to contact tracing in the fight against the COVID-19 virus. Click here to read more.
Cayman Islands
Data protection issues, from raising awareness to dealing with complaints about potential breaches of the law, are now dominating the work of the Office of the Ombudsman. In a press release marking International Data Protection Day, Ombudsman Sandy Hermiston revealed that this area is one of the office’s busiest, fuelled in part by the recent move online for many areas of business in Cayman as a result of the pandemic. Click here to read more.
Guyana
Four women were fined when they appeared at Magistrates’ Court for inciting racial tension during the March 2020 elections period on their Facebook pages. Click here to read more.
A 33-year-old man was released on $300,000 bail after he was charged with posting nude photographs of a 16-year-old girl on his WhatsApp status. The man was charged with using a computer system to publish obscene/explicit photographs of the young girl to humiliate and cause her substantial emotional distress. Click here to read more.
Jamaica
Chief Justice Bryan Sykes said the judiciary is considering artificial intelligence to boost efficiency in the judicial system. Click here to read more.
The Bank of Jamaica (BOJ) says it will launch its central bank digital currency (CBDC) by March 2022. The CBDC will be in addition to banknotes and coins, and backed by the BOJ as legal tender. Click here to read more.
It is expected that for the year just ended, there were more than the 134 million electronic retail payment transactions worth in excess of $4 billion, which the Bank of Jamaica, BOJ, recorded for 2019. Against this background, the central bank has released a consultation paper on approaches it will be taking to regulate the operation of electronic retail payment service providers (PSPs). Click here to read more.
National Identification Registration Act (NIRA)
Minister of Justice, Hon. Delroy Chuck, has called on Jamaicans to support the National Identification System (NIDS), as it will prevent identity theft from affecting hard-working Jamaicans whose information fall into the hands of criminals through cyberspace. Click here to read more.
The authorities are seeking to assure Jamaicans that the police will not be able to access their information under the National Identification System (NIDS), unless it is approved by the Supreme Court. Click here to read more.
Minister of Justice Delroy Chuck says people who breach the provisions of the National Identification and Registration Act 2020, and unlawfully access or misuse information provided for the national identification system (NIDS), could be fined up to $3 million. However there is concern the proposed $3 million fine is not sufficient to guard against data leaks. Click here to read more.
Enrolments under the National Identification System (NIDS) are being targeted for commencement within eight months. NIDS Programme Director Warren Vernon indicated that “if we receive the legal framework by May, we will be in a position to start personalising the first card by September 2021”. Click here to read more.
Programme Director for the National Identification System (NIDS), Warren Vernon, says that biometric data for the national identification database will be encrypted to prevent unauthorised access. Click here to read more. He also insisted that personal data stored under the system will be secure and persons will have control over the disclosure or release of their identity information. Click here to read more.
Principal Director of the NIDS Project Shereika Hemmings-Allison at a recent meeting of the joint select committee of Parliament reviewing the newly tabled National Identification and Registration Act (NIRA), 2020 announced that the NIDS Act is expected to tackle identify theft and financial crimes which are on the increase in Jamaica. Click here to read more.
Trinidad and Tobago
Health Minister Terrence Deyalsingh said the ministry is looking closely at the Caribbean countries which use tracking bracelets to monitor patients who are in self-isolation with covid19. But even if this is approved for Trinidad and Tobago, he said, it will be voluntary, as the constitution prevents their use from being mandatory. Click here to read more.
Editorial
Protecting data in the digital economy by Barbados Chapter of Information Systems Security Association (ISSA)
The past year has presented several challenges, losses and opportunities with the COVID-19 pandemic. With persons limiting their movements beyond their households, the use of the internet and social media allowed greater visibility for online advertising and sales.
With either a simple website or social media account, cottage industries have flourished, selling food, clothing, household items, accessories and personal hygiene products, to name a few. A flurry of online sales and communication has resulted in countless confidential information transmissions, including names, telephone numbers, emails, bank account information, credit card numbers, and GPS locations. Read more here.
2.Legally speaking, is digital money really money? By Catalina Margulis and Arthur Rossi
Countries are moving fast toward creating digital currencies. Or, so we hear from various surveys showing an increasing number of central banks making substantial progress towards having an official digital currency. But, in fact, close to 80 percent of the world’s central banks are either not allowed to issue a digital currency under their existing laws, or the legal framework is not clear. Read more here.
