‘That is a mirage’ – Sam George on foreign cloud data-sovereignty assurances
Communication, Digital Technology and Innovations Minister Sam Nartey George has challenged assurances that agreements with foreign cloud providers guarantee control over data.
Speaking at Joy News’ Digital Economy Forum on AI and the Ghana Economy on Wednesday, he argued that such promises could leave African companies with a false sense of protection.
“The last point I just want to make is about the use of foreign resources and even the perception of a tailored arrangement that gives you sovereignty over your data. That is a mirage that is sold to many African companies, not just Ghanaian companies.”
His concern centred on whether private agreements could shield companies’ data from access under United States law.
Mr George cited the U.S. Cloud Act as the basis for his warning. He argued that the law gives the U.S. government access to data held by American technology companies, despite assurances offered to customers.
He said he had challenged two major providers over those promises.
“So I've had this back and forth with Google and Amazon Web Services, where they give you all kinds of agreements that say you are protected and data sovereign.”
The minister maintained that contractual assurances could not override the legislation.
“But the U.S. Cloud Act is an act of Congress that supersedes any such arrangement that they may have with you as a private company, and so data residency and sovereignty, and especially when you look at what they try to do with our health records, extremely important that we begin to think about how we sign this agreement and how we utilise those platforms.”
His reference to health records brought sensitive personal information into the discussion. He urged closer scrutiny of cloud agreements and platform use.
The warning placed control over data alongside the forum’s wider discussion about building the skills needed for Ghana’s digital economy.
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