Who We Are

The Parliament of Ghana is one of the principal organs of the State established under Article 93 of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana. It serves as the legislative arm of Government and is composed of elected Members of Parliament representing constituencies throughout the country.

The Parliamentary Service was established pursuant to Article 124 of the 1992 Constitution. It exists to facilitate the work of parliament through the provision of support services to the House.

Scope of this Privacy Notice

This Privacy Notice applies to all websites operated and maintained by the Parliamentary Service of Ghana. It does not apply to:

• Websites operated by third parties that may be linked from our website;
• Websites or online platforms that maintain separate privacy notices; or
• Services that specify different data protection arrangements.

We encourage you to read the privacy notices applicable to any third-party websites you visit through links on our website.

Personal Data We Collect

Depending on the services you access or your interaction with our website, we may collect the following categories of personal data:

• Your full name;
• Your email address;
• Your telephone number;
• Your constituency;
• Your country of residence;
• National ID;
• Your Internet Protocol (IP) address;
• Browser type and version;
• Information regarding how you use our website;
• Information regarding how you interact with our emails; and
• Any additional information you may be required to provide through our online forms or communications.

How We Collect Your Personal Data

We collect personal data directly from you when you:

• Complete surveys, questionnaires, or evaluations;
• Request a visit to Parliament through our website;
• Participate in online forums hosted on our website;
• Register for events, workshops, or training programmes;
• Subscribe to newsletters, email alerts, or other communications;
• Contact Parliament through online forms or email; or
• Otherwise voluntarily provide information through our website.

Your personal data will only be collected for the purposes stated at the point of collection.

How We Use Your Personal Data

We process your personal data to:

• Support the constitutional and administrative functions of Parliament;
• Provide services, facilities, and information requested by you;
• Process requests for visits and participation in parliamentary programmes;
• Register and administer events, meetings, and training programmes;
• Communicate with you regarding Parliament’s activities;
• Improve the operation, accessibility, and security of our website;
• Evaluate and improve our services; and
• Comply with legal and regulatory obligations.

Lawful Basis for Processing

The Parliamentary Service processes personal data only where there is a lawful basis under the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) or any other relevant laws. Depending on the circumstances, processing may be necessary:

• To perform constitutional or statutory functions of Parliament;
• To comply with a legal obligation;
• For the performance of a contract with you;
• With your consent;
• Where processing is necessary for our legitimate interests and those interests are not overridden by your rights and freedoms; or
• Where otherwise authorised or required by law.

Where processing is based on your consent, you may withdraw that consent at any time without affecting the lawfulness of processing undertaken before the withdrawal.

Security of Your Personal Data

We take the security of your personal data seriously. Appropriate technical and organisational measures have been implemented to safeguard personal data against accidental or unlawful destruction, loss, alteration, unauthorised disclosure, or unauthorised access.

These measures include:

• Encryption where appropriate;
• Secure storage of electronic and physical records;
• Restricted access to authorised personnel only;
• Regular monitoring of information security controls; and
• Contractual obligations requiring third-party service providers to maintain appropriate security standards.

Although we take reasonable steps to protect your personal data, no method of electronic transmission or storage is completely secure. We therefore cannot guarantee absolute security.

International Transfers of Personal Data

Some personal data processed by Parliament may be stored or hosted outside Ghana for website hosting, backup, maintenance, or cloud computing services.

Where personal data is transferred outside Ghana, we ensure that appropriate safeguards are in place to protect your information and that such transfers comply with the requirements of the Data Protection Act, 2012 (Act 843) and other international laws. These safeguards may include contractual obligations, technical security measures, and the use of reputable service providers that maintain internationally recognised security standards.

Sharing Your Personal Data

We may share your personal data where permitted or required by law. Your personal data may be disclosed to:

• Authorised employees of Parliament;
• Information technology service providers;
• Website hosting and cloud service providers;
• Email communication service providers;
• Event management service providers;
• Government agencies or regulatory authorities where required by law; and
• Other service providers acting on our behalf under appropriate contractual safeguards.

We will only disclose personal data where:

• You have provided your consent;
• Disclosure is necessary to perform a contract with you;
• Disclosure is required to fulfil our statutory responsibilities;
• Disclosure is necessary to comply with legal obligations or lawful requests from competent authorities; or
• Disclosure is otherwise permitted by applicable law.

The Parliamentary Service will never sell your personal data or disclose it to third parties for direct marketing purposes.

Retention of Personal Data

We retain personal data only for as long as it is necessary to fulfil the purposes for which it was collected or as required by law.

Retention periods are determined in accordance with records management and retention policies of the Parliamentary Service and applicable legal requirements.

Unless a longer retention period is required by law or is necessary for an ongoing administrative or legal process, personal data collected for event registrations, training programmes, newsletters, and similar engagements will generally be retained for twelve (12) months, after which it will be securely deleted or anonymised.

Where appropriate, we will inform you of the applicable retention period when collecting your personal data.

Your Rights

Subject to applicable law, you have the right to:

• Request access to the personal data we hold about you;
• Request correction or updating of inaccurate or incomplete personal data;
• Request deletion of your personal data where legally permissible;
• Object to or request restriction of certain processing activities;
• Withdraw your consent where processing is based on consent;
• Request a copy of your personal data in a structured, commonly used, and machine-readable format (data portability), where applicable; and
• Lodge a complaint where you believe your personal data has been processed unlawfully.

Requests relating to your personal data should be directed to the Data Protection Officer using the contact details provided above.

Email Alerts and Subscriptions

If you subscribe to one of our newsletters or email alert services, we will collect and process information including:

• Your name;
• Your email address;
• Your subscription preferences;
• Information about how you interact with our emails, including whether emails are opened and links clicked;
• Browser information; and
• Website usage information collected through traffic logs and similar technologies.

We use this information to:

• Send newsletters and email alerts;
• Improve our communications;
• Evaluate the effectiveness of our email services;
• Respond to your enquiries; and
• Occasionlly contact you regarding improvements to our services.

You may unsubscribe at any time by clicking the unsubscribe link included in our emails or by contacting us directly.

Changes to this Privacy Notice

We may revise this Privacy Notice from time to time to reflect changes in legislation, technology, operational practices, or our processing of personal data.

Where significant changes are made, we will take reasonable steps to notify users through our website or by other appropriate means.

The revised Privacy Notice will become effective immediately upon publication unless otherwise stated.

We encourage you to read this Privacy Notice periodically to remain informed about how we protect your personal data.