ABA ROLI Regional Digital Privacy Curriculum Consultant

ABA Center for Global Programs is seeking an expert in digital privacy rights in East and Southern Africa to adapt regional module on regional digital privacy issues under ABA ROLI’s Right to Privacy Moodle trainings.

The right to privacy is foundational, serving as a “gateway”[1] right undergirding others including expression, association, and access to information, essential pillars of Internet Freedom (IF). Despite its primacy, privacy online continues to face long-standing challenges, particularly as societies and governments continue to grapple with the delicate balance between individual safety and broader public security. Online privacy also faces emerging challenges posed by the rapid development of new technologies that both enable and propel data collection at unprecedented scale. While some jurisdictions have enacted legislation, the degree to which they are enforced varies across jurisdictions and levels of governance. Moreover, legislation centered primarily on data protection is insufficient to address the full spectrum of human rights concerns, as it does not adequately protect against complexities introduced by networked privacy considerations and the interconnected nature of data. Data protection and privacy regulations in many cases also fail to meet the unique needs of local populations in particular jurisdictions or vulnerable communities therein.

3) Project Overview
To improve understanding of these challenges, building on our complementary programming in other regions, ABA ROLI and our partners are implementing a project to foster the promotion of digital privacy rights for marginalized populations in East and Southern Africa. The program aims to advance policies and practices, through coordinated advocacy and improved jurisprudence, that safeguard democracy-affirming digital privacy rights by strengthening capacity of legal advocates to engage on digital privacy rights issues.

Through this project, ABA ROLI will adapt and augment our existing Right to Privacy trainings – which are currently tailored to jurisdictions in Asia – to develop a training resource covering regional-level legal frameworks, policies, judicial mechanisms, and issues of salience pertinent to digital privacy rights, with a particular focus on marginalized communities, in East and Southern Africa. This training resource will provide lawyers and law students with a refined understanding of privacy, privacy’s intersection with technology, and the legal mechanisms used to protect privacy.

4) Scope of the Assignment
ABA ROLI seeks a Consultant with expertise on digital privacy rights in the East and Southern Africa region to tailor ABA ROLI’s existing Right to Privacy curriculum, and augment the curriculum with new materials where necessary, to cover legal frameworks, policies, redress mechanisms, and issues of salience pertinent to digital privacy rights at the regional level in East and Southern Africa.

Working under the oversight of ABA ROLI and with feedback from partners based in East and Southern Africa, the Regional Digital Privacy Consultant will tailor the content and resources suitable for a hybrid training program that consists of live (virtual and in-person) and On Demand sessions. The regional training resources will complement jurisdiction-specific training modules that take an in-depth exploration of five core project jurisdictions: Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia, Ethiopia, and South Africa. The Regional Digital Privacy Consultant will work in tandem with Domestic Digital Privacy Consultants (one in each of the five core jurisdictions) to ensure that content in the regional training component mutually reinforces the jurisdiction-specific modules and is not redundant. Training resources should address the following learning objectives:

1. Data privacy regulations and practices at regional level.
2. Existing and potential regional policy frameworks and extra-legal practices, including strengths, weaknesses, and potential gaps in regional mechanisms.
3. Analyze sample legislation and regulations from East and Southern Africa, or the broader continent, that adapt international and regional frameworks (from #2) to local jurisdictions.
4. Regional level mechanisms for legal redress of privacy violations.
5. Salient issues pertaining to the interaction between digital privacy rights and marginalized groups in East and Southern Africa.

5) Deliverables:
The following are the expected deliverables;

1. Prepare an inception report detailing the consultant’s understanding of the assignment, methodology and a proposed work plan
2. Outline for the regional training materials as described above, including identification of: learning outcomes and exercises suitable for On Demand learning.
3. Draft curriculum, including scripts for On Demand content, group and individual exercises and required/recommended readings to be reviewed and approved by ABA ROLI.
4. Finalized regional curriculum including all rights to content granted to ABA ROL.
5. Support ABA ROLI in producing On Demand content (reviewing products, providing feedback, assist in revising based on feedback from others) and ABA facilitators and trainers to utilize resources (participating in consulting training session with facilitators and trainers to answer any questions).

6) Duration of the Assignment
The assignment is expected to last 10 to 15 working days in November 2024, exclusive of time for ABA ROLI to review and provide feedback.

7) Preferred Qualifications and Experience

• Subject matter expert on digital rights, digital privacy, and data protection with thorough grasp of human rights and adjacent legislation
• Demonstrated experience in, and understanding of, digital rights in East and Southern Africa
• Experience in adult education learning modalities and strategies, and developing virtual and On Demand training content.
• Experience working in Justice Sector programming and training material/curriculum development is a plus.
• Proficiency, if not fluency, in English and one or more regional languages.
• Ability to work on tight deadlines and produce quality work.