The government has transferred many Kenyans to the SHIF program without their consent. Imagine discovering one day that the government has transferred you to a program without your knowledge or consent.
On October 2, 2024, Kenyans who are members of the National Hospital Insurance Fund (NHIF) received a surprise text message informing them that the recently established Social Health Authority (SHA) had electronically transferred their membership accounts.
The notification advised members to update their information on the SHA website by calling *147# or contacting approved agents.
But this announcement comes only a few days after a September 30, 2024, Social Health Authority (SHA) statement made it very apparent that an opt-in agreement was necessary in order to migrate.
Kenyans who are already apprehensive about the switch from the NHIF to the Social Health Insurance Fund (SHIF) under the SHA are very concerned about this inconsistency.
The conflicting messages in the automatic transfer text and the previous tweet from SHA informing Kenyans that they needed to opt-in for registration have raised data privacy concerns.
Kenya’s Data Protection Act states that unless there is a legitimate exception, personal data may only be used or transferred with the individual’s informed permission.
This has raised serious concerns about whether the data transfer of NHIF members to SHA complied with legal requirements, particularly in light of the need for express consent from individuals who might be impacted.
