Togo Law 2019-014 compliance and requirements, so your data handling holds up when someone asks.

What it is

What is Togo's Law 2019-014 and what is it used for?

Law No. 2019-014 on the Protection of Personal Data is Togo's personal data protection law. It covers the collection, processing, transmission, storage and use of personal data by individuals, the State, local authorities and public or private legal persons, including processing by a controller on Togolese territory or using means located in Togo other than for transit.

The Instance de protection des données à caractère personnel (IPDCP), an independent administrative authority created by the Law, receives prior formalities and complaints, carries out checks and gives opinions. 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. Law No. 2019-014 of 29 October 2019 on the protection of personal data, published on the regulations page of the Agence Nationale de la Cybersécurité (ANCy). Confirm current wording and the authority's guidance with your legal advisers.

Who it is for

Who needs to comply with Togo's Law 2019-014?

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

• Any company processing customer, employee or supplier data in Togo. The law applies to processing by public and private legal persons on Togolese territory, so formalities and individual rights apply from the first customer record.
• Banks, payment firms and telecom operators. They hold identification numbers and transaction records, and national identification numbers fall among the categories that need prior authorisation.
• Health care and pharmaceutical operators. Health data is sensitive, and processing for health research needs the authority's authorisation.
• Employers using biometric access or attendance systems. Processing that includes biometric data needs the authority's prior authorisation.

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 Togo Law 2019-014 requirements?

Strip away the vocabulary and Togo's personal data law requires a business to comply in six areas of personal data handling. The list below puts each one in business terms; the Law and the regulator's guidance give the full wording and exceptions.

• Declare or seek authorisation before processing: most processing is declared and starts only on the authority's receipt; biometric, identification-number, health-research, offence and file-interconnection processing needs prior authorisation.
• Collect lawfully, for clear purposes: data is gathered fairly for specified purposes, kept accurate and no longer than needed, and processed on consent unless a listed ground applies.
• Protect sensitive categories and limit automated decisions: racial, religious, political, union, sex-life, health and offence data are barred unless an exception applies, and no legal-effect decision may rest solely on automated profiling.
• Inform people and honour their rights: people are told who processes their data and why, and can access, object, correct, delete and erase it; direct marketing needs prior consent.
• Secure data and bind your processors: controllers prevent unauthorised access, keep access logs and back-ups, and use a written contract under which processors act only on instructions.
• Check before sending data abroad: transfers need a destination with sufficient protection, the authority informed beforehand and giving its opinion, and are otherwise limited to listed exceptions.

Compliance route

How do you achieve Togo Law 2019-014 compliance?

There is no certificate at the end of this route. Compliance is something your organisation demonstrates, to the IPDCP 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 Togo.
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 IPDCP'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 "Togo Law 2019-014 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 Togo Law 2019-014 compliance cost?

The cost of a Togo Law 2019-014 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 Togo Law 2019-014 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 Togo Law 2019-014 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 IPDCP 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 Instance de protection des données à caractère personnel (IPDCP), an independent administrative authority created by the Law, receives prior formalities and complaints, carries out checks and gives opinions.

Often combined with

Standards organisations pair with Law 2019-014 (Togo)

• 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.