Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) is set to acquire a new set of powers that will give it free access to private or confidential information on consumers without a court order, the Business Daily reported. The powers, which are contained in a new set of regulations that has been prepared for publication in the Kenya Gazette, allow the CAK or its agents the leeway to obtain information or data held by telecoms operators.

The proposed regulations state that a licensee must grant the authority's officers access to its systems, premises, facilities, files, records and other data to enable the CAK to inspect them. Business Daily said that consumer rights activists claim the regulations are particularly in breach of people's right to privacy, as provided for in the constitution.