Technology device manufacturers are caught in between a rock and a hard place in AI adoption due to the changing data protection laws.
While the world is first moving to machine learning to simplify tasks, threats on personal data have increased prompting the strengthening of laws governing personal data usage and collection.
These privacy laws provide a framework of processing personal data and provide rights of data subjects and obligations of controllers and processors.
The objective of the privacy laws is to regulate the processing of personal data, ensure that the processing is guided by certain principles, to protect the privacy of individuals
Samsung East Africa, head of the mobile experience division Anthony Hutia, says that manufactures of tech devices such as mobile phones will have to re-evaluate the bare minimum personal data that the devices collect.
“It’s a tricky time where we have to balance, you want all this stuff done for you and it requires that data to do it. So how else will you be able to identify that device, its user and balancing all that to synchronise it together,” said Hutia.
Speaking during the opening of Samsung’s premium brands shop in Nairobi, Hutia added that ESG adoption has also emerged as a key trend that will shape what kind of devices are getting into the market.
“It’s a global treaty on how do we manage the e-waste that why we are standardizing the chargers and new phones are only coming with a charging cable to ensure we have minimal e waste,” added Hutia.
In 2024, the European Union (EU) is introducing a universal charger policy to reduce electronic waste (e-waste).
Under this initiative, a wide array of electronic devices, including mobile phones, tablets, and headphones only need a USB-C port.
E-waste has become one of the fastest-growing waste streams globally, primarily triggered by the rapid progress of technology, combined with consumer’s demand for electronics and shorter product lifecycles.
An increasing number of device makers in Kenya are now adapting trade in old smartphones as they look to mop up the old devices as consumers acquire new ones.
"We are enhancing our trade in feature as a key strategy to enable more people have phones that would have been idle with new purchases," said Hutia.
He says that high end and flagship devices trade-in is still the king recording the highest numbers.