Cabo Verde Data Protection Law compliance and requirements, so your data handling holds up when someone asks.

What it is

What is Cabo Verde's Data Protection Law and what is it used for?

The Data Protection Law is Cabo Verde's personal data protection law. It applies to automated and non-automated processing of personal data in a filing system, to controllers and processors established in Cabo Verde, and to controllers outside the country that process data of people located in Cabo Verde when offering goods or services or monitoring behaviour; it excludes purely personal or household activity.

The Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD), an independent administrative authority operating alongside the National Assembly, supervises the Law. The practical test: for any personal data you hold, could you show its purpose and basis, who was told, how it is protected and where it goes?

Current law. Lei n.º 133/V/2001, de 22 de janeiro, amended by Lei n.º 41/VIII/2013, de 17 de setembro, and again by Lei n.º 121/IX/2021, de 17 de março (Boletim Oficial, I Série, n.º 28), which republishes the regime in full. The CNPD's legislation page lists all three laws. Confirm current wording and the authority's guidance with your legal advisers.

Who it is for

Who needs to comply with Cabo Verde's Data Protection Law?

The Law reaches organisations of every size that handle personal data in Cabo Verde. Organisations usually come to Sterling for a structured programme from one of four directions:

• Any business that decides why and how personal data is used. The regime applies to controllers and processors established in Cabo Verde and to foreign ones that handle data of people located there when offering goods or services or monitoring behaviour.
• Employers, hotels and retailers holding staff and guest data. Staff files, guest registration, CCTV and loyalty data are personal data, and rights of access, rectification and erasure follow.
• Banks, insurers, clinics and others handling sensitive data. Health, biometric and other special data are restricted, and large-scale processing brings impact assessment and data protection officer duties.
• Processors such as payroll, hosting, call-centre and BPO providers. They work for controllers, must notify them of breaches without undue delay and may be asked about transfers abroad.

The aim is handling of personal information that you control and can evidence. Compliance depends on how the rules are applied every day, not on a policy document alone.

Requirements

What are the main Cabo Verde Data Protection Law requirements?

Strip away the vocabulary and Cabo Verde's data protection law requires a business to look after personal data in six practical ways. The list below puts each one in business terms; the Law and the regulator's guidance give the full wording and exceptions.

• Data use has a lawful, limited purpose: personal data is collected for specific, legitimate purposes, kept to what is needed, accurate and held no longer than necessary, and used only on a recognised legal basis.
• People are informed and consent is genuine: individuals are told who is using their data and why; consent can be demonstrated and withdrawn easily, and for children under sixteen a guardian gives or authorises it.
• People can use their rights: individuals can ask for access, correction, erasure, portability, restriction or objection, and are not left to decisions taken solely by automated processing that significantly affect them.
• Security is built in and breaches are reported: safeguards apply by design and by default, a breach goes to the national authority within 72 hours unless risk is unlikely, and affected people are told when risk is high.
• High-risk processing is assessed and owned: an impact assessment comes before high-risk processing, and a data protection officer is designated in the cases the law lists, with the independence and tasks it sets.
• Processing is filed and transfers stay protected: processing is notified to the CNPD, or authorised where required, and data leaves Cabo Verde only for countries the CNPD considers adequate or under an authorised safeguard.

Compliance route

How do you achieve Cabo Verde Data Protection Law compliance?

There is no certificate at the end of this route. Compliance is something your organisation demonstrates, to the CNPD if a complaint or incident arises, and to customers who ask. Sterling helps you build and run the programme; interpretation of the law in contested cases remains with your legal advisers and, ultimately, the regulator and the courts.

1. 01
   Map the personal information you handle.Customers, staff, users and suppliers: what is collected, for which purpose, on which basis, where it is stored, who processes it for you and whether it leaves Cabo Verde.
2. 02
   Gap analysis: compare current practice with the Law.Each area of the Law reviewed against what actually happens, with actions, owners and dates agreed.
3. 03
   Put the controls and routines in place.Complete the formalities the Law asks for, rewrite notices and consent wording, put security measures and processor contracts in place, name who is responsible and agree a breach procedure.
4. 04
   Test the programme and review the results.Internal review of samples, a simulated incident or data-subject request, and a management review that closes findings with evidence.
5. 05
   Operate, demonstrate and keep it current.Answer requests, record incidents and report them as the Law requires, keep formalities current, review transfers, refresh training and follow the CNPD's guidance as it is issued.

Check the route before you sign. The Law creates no certificate of compliance, so treat any offer of a "Cabo Verde Data Protection Law certificate" with suspicion. If a customer wants independent assurance, ISO/IEC 27701 or ISO/IEC 27001 is certifiable by an accredited certification body; confirm the body's accreditation scope directly with the accreditation body concerned.

Cost

How much does Cabo Verde Data Protection Law compliance cost?

The cost of a Cabo Verde Data Protection Law programme is driven by how much personal information you hold, how many systems and suppliers touch it, and how much already works. Your proposal shows each component, with what is included and what remains for your legal advisers.

Timeline

How long does Cabo Verde Data Protection Law compliance take?

Timing depends on how scattered your personal information is, how quickly system owners respond and how much has to change. Your proposal sets out the phases for your scope, long enough to map the information, fix the gaps and show that requests and incidents are handled the way the procedures say.

If a customer or contract has set a date, tell us at the outset and we will say plainly what can be in place by then and what should follow.

Your engagement

What your Cabo Verde Data Protection Law engagement includes

Your scope covers the full programme, from the information map to evidence that runs. Sterling does not certify, attest or validate compliance with the Law, and the Law creates no certificate of compliance; the CNPD supervises it, and we work alongside your legal advisers.

• Information map, gap analysis and plan

  Sources, systems, suppliers and overseas flows, with actions and owners agreed.

• Policies, notices and procedures

  Notices, consent wording, request, security and breach procedures, processor contract terms and transfer documents, drafted from Sterling's own templates with your teams.

• Effivity ISO & GRC software

  Registers, requests and incidents managed in Effivity, included with the engagement at no additional cost.

• Training for everyone

  Internal auditor training for your review team, as applicable to your standard, and preferential Sterling Academy access, including complimentary awareness training for your people as part of the engagement.

• Internal review and management review

  Sample testing, an incident exercise and findings closed with evidence.

• Formalities support

  Help preparing the formalities the Law asks for and the responsible person's role, with findings closed with evidence.

Sterling OS™ sets how we deliver. Design™ is guided support, where your team builds the programme with our consultants' direction; Drive™ is managed support, where our consultants do most of the work with your input. You choose one of the two, not both in sequence. Once the programme is operating, Sustain™ keeps reviews, training and updates on schedule, and Automate™ is Effivity, where the records live.

The Comissão Nacional de Proteção de Dados (CNPD), an independent administrative authority operating alongside the National Assembly, supervises the Law.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with Data Protection Law (Cabo Verde)

• ADGM Data Protection Regulations 2021ADGM data protection compliance for entities under the 2021 Regulations: lawful bases, DPO, impact assessments, 72-hour breach notice and transfers, all-inclusive proposal.
• APEC CBPRAPEC CBPR certification and requirements explained: Global CBPR and PRP, Accountability Agent review, annual renewal and how Sterling prepares your team.
• APPI (Japan)APPI compliance for Japan's Act on the Protection of Personal Information: the requirements, PPC breach reporting, cross-border rules and an all-inclusive programme.
• Bahrain PDPLBahrain PDPL compliance and requirements explained: consent, notification to the Authority, transfers abroad, 72-hour breach reporting, rights, cost and timing.
• CCPA / CPRACCPA compliance and requirements under the CPRA: notices, consumer rights, opt-outs, risk assessments, cybersecurity audits and ADMT, in an all-inclusive programme.
• Cyber and Data Protection Act (Zimbabwe)Zimbabwe's Cyber and Data Protection Act [Chapter 12:07]: POTRAZ licensing, lawful processing, security and transfers, built into a programme.