• Senegal bans use of private apps for civil records, citing data risks
  
  
• 400 of 600 centers now use national system linked to central database
  
  
• Move supports digital transformation and rising cybersecurity threat response

Senegal’s Minister of Urban Planning, Local Government and Spatial Planning, Balla Moussa Fofana, urged municipalities on Tuesday, November 18, to immediately stop using private software or uncertified applications to manage civil records.

Speaking at the launch of National Civil Registration Week in Kothiary, in the Tambacounda region, the Minister said unauthorized tools pose “a major threat to citizens’ data.” He warned officials not to share sensitive information on unsecured platforms such as Gmail, WhatsApp or Hotmail, noting that these practices expose public records to intrusion, manipulation or deletion, which could lead to identity disputes or fraud.

Modernization and Cybersecurity

The warning comes as the National Civil Status Agency (ANEC) continues to roll out a large modernization program. So far, 400 of Senegal’s 600 civil registration centers have been equipped with the national management system, which is linked to a central database containing more than 20 million records.

ANEC is also introducing several new digital tools, including an online services platform for citizens and a module that allows health facilities, village chiefs and neighborhood representatives to report births and deaths.

The digital overhaul of civil registration forms part of Senegal’s “New Deal Technologique,” the national digital transformation strategy aimed at putting 90 percent of public services online by 2034. The plan focuses on strengthening digital sovereignty, modernizing administrative services and improving public access to online procedures.

By requiring municipalities to use state-approved systems, the government aims to protect civil registration data from criminal misuse as cyber threats rise sharply. In 2024, more than 10 million cyberattacks were detected and blocked in Senegal, according to Kaspersky.

The cybersecurity firm reported a major increase in password theft, which jumped from about 36,000 cases in 2023 to roughly 72,000 in 2024. Attacks exploiting software vulnerabilities nearly doubled, reaching more than 293,000 cases, and over 600,000 intrusion attempts via the Remote Desktop Protocol (RDP) were recorded.

Samira Njoya