Digital Rights & Internet Freedom

Overview

Digital technology is becoming increasingly embedded in everyday life in Uganda. Mobile phones and internet services now influence how people communicate, learn, conduct business, transfer money, access information, interact with public institutions, find opportunities and participate in community and civic life. As government services, financial systems, education, commerce and social interaction become more digital, the ability to access and use technology safely is increasingly connected to wider social and economic participation.

For Rural Smiles Foundation, this transformation presents both opportunity and responsibility. Digital technologies can reduce geographic barriers, connect rural communities to information and services, expand learning and livelihood opportunities, strengthen civil society coordination and create new ways for people to participate in decisions affecting their lives. At the same time, digitalisation can deepen existing inequalities when people lack affordable connectivity, suitable devices, digital skills or accessible services. It can also expose individuals and organisations to privacy violations, online harassment, fraud, account compromise, misuse of personal information and other technology-enabled risks.

Our Digital Rights & Internet Freedom Program responds to these interconnected realities. We work to strengthen meaningful digital inclusion while promoting privacy, digital safety, access to information, responsible technology, civic participation and protection of people who experience digital threats. We are particularly concerned with the experiences of rural and underserved communities. National connectivity statistics can obscure considerable differences between people who live within network coverage and people who can actually make meaningful use of the internet. The ability to participate digitally depends on much more than whether a telecommunications signal is available. Affordability, education, digital literacy, disability accessibility, gender, language, device ownership, electricity and confidence using technology all influence whether an individual can benefit from digital transformation.

Our approach therefore connects digital access with rights and safety. We do not consider connectivity successful simply because a person can get online. Meaningful participation requires that people can understand the digital environment, protect themselves and their information, use technology productively and participate without unnecessary discrimination or harm. Rural Smiles Foundation’s work combines community digital literacy, digital-security capacity building, privacy and data-protection awareness, civic technology, safe incident reporting and referral, internet-governance participation, research, evidence generation, community connectivity and responsible use of emerging technologies. Through this program, we seek to contribute to a digital society in which technology expands human opportunity while respecting dignity, privacy, inclusion and individual agency.

Uganda's Digital Landscape and Digital Transformation

Uganda’s communications sector has expanded considerably, creating a stronger foundation for a digital economy and digitally enabled public services. Uganda Communications Commission reported that by September 2025 the country had approximately 45.7 million active mobile subscriptions, 17 million active mobile-internet subscriptions and approximately 19 million smartphones. The same reporting period recorded more than 35 million active mobile-money subscriptions, illustrating how deeply mobile technology has become integrated into communication and financial activity. These numbers demonstrate substantial expansion of digital infrastructure and services, but telecommunications subscriptions should not be interpreted as meaning that the same number of individual Ugandans are regular or meaningful internet users. Individuals may hold multiple subscriptions, while many people remain without regular access to internet-enabled devices or affordable data.

The 2024 National Population and Housing Census provides an important individual-level perspective. Uganda Bureau of Statistics found that only 8.9 percent of people aged 10 years and above reported using the internet. The differences between population groups and geographic areas were substantial. Internet use stood at 16.6 percent in urban areas compared with 4.3 percent in rural areas. Usage among males was 10.6 percent, compared with 7.6 percent among females. Among young people aged 18-30, internet use reached 13.8 percent.

Geographic differences were even more pronounced. Kampala Capital City recorded internet use of 40.3 percent among people aged 10 and above, while the corresponding rate in Karamoja was only 3.2 percent. For Rural Smiles Foundation, these disparities are particularly significant because our work includes rural communities in Bunyoro and Karamoja as well as other underserved contexts. They demonstrate why national telecommunications growth alone cannot be used as a measure of digital inclusion.Uganda can simultaneously have expanding telecommunications infrastructure and a substantial usage gap between people who theoretically have access to connectivity and those who are able to use the internet meaningfully.

The Digital Transformation Roadmap 2023/24–2027/28, developed by the Ministry of Information and Communications Technology and National Guidance, establishes an implementation framework for the country’s digital transformation. It is organised around five interconnected pillars: digital infrastructure and connectivity; digital services; cybersecurity, data protection and privacy; digital skills and literacy; and innovation and entrepreneurship. 

This national direction is important because digitalisation is increasingly moving beyond communications and into the delivery of public and private services. Digital platforms are becoming relevant to government services, education, financial transactions, health information, business registration, employment, agriculture, identity systems and other areas of everyday life.

As this transformation accelerates, digital exclusion can have consequences extending far beyond inability to browse the internet. People who cannot participate digitally may increasingly encounter disadvantages in accessing information, services, economic opportunities and public institutions.

Digital Rights Are Human Rights in Digital Spaces

Uganda's Constitution protects a number of rights directly relevant to digital participation. Article 27 protects privacy, including the privacy of a person's correspondence and communication. Article 29 protects freedom of speech and expression, including freedom of the press and other media, as well as peaceful assembly and association. Article 41 gives citizens a right of access to information held by the State or its agencies, subject to the limitations set out in the Constitution. 

The growth of digital technologies changes the environment in which these rights are exercised, but it does not make questions of privacy, expression, information, dignity or participation less important. Uganda has developed a specific legal framework for this latter issue through the Data Protection and Privacy Act. The law regulates the collection, processing, holding and use of personal data and establishes responsibilities for organisations handling personal information. It requires personal data to be collected and processed fairly and lawfully, to be relevant and not excessive, to be protected through appropriate security safeguards and to be handled transparently.

The Act also establishes important rights for individuals whose personal information is collected. These include rights concerning access to personal information, correction or deletion of inaccurate or unlawfully obtained information, restrictions on certain processing and safeguards concerning decisions based solely on automated processing.

These protections matter increasingly as digital systems collect larger volumes of information. A seemingly simple online service may collect a person's name, telephone number, location, identification information, photographs, financial information, health status or other sensitive details. When organisations do not adequately understand why information is being collected, who can access it, how long it will be retained or how it is secured, technology can create risks for the same communities it is intended to support.

Rural Smiles Foundation therefore treats data protection as a rights issue rather than simply a compliance exercise. Our approach emphasises data minimisation: collecting only information that is genuinely required for a defined purpose. We promote informed and appropriate consent, controlled access to sensitive information, secure storage, confidentiality, responsible retention and deletion practices, and careful consideration of what information should never be collected in the first place.

This principle is particularly important in our civic-technology work because systems dealing with human rights defenders, journalists, community organisers or other people who may face threats can contain information that would create serious risks if accessed or disclosed inappropriately. A sophisticated digital platform is therefore not responsible simply because it functions technically. It must also be designed around the safety and agency of the people whose information it handles and this is why our digital-rights work uses the principle of privacy by design.

Digital Safety in a Growing Online Environment

The expansion of digital participation also expands the number of people, devices and organisations exposed to cybersecurity and online-safety risks.Digital threats are no longer concerns only for large companies or government institutions. Individuals using smartphones, community organisations, small businesses, journalists, civil society organisations, schools and other everyday users can all encounter malicious activity.

Uganda Communications Commission's Communications Sector Cyber Security Posture Report for the 2024/25 financial year recorded 1,411,933 malware infections across Ugandan telecommunications networks, compared with 1,585,170 during the previous financial year. This represented a 10.9 percent decline, which the Commission associated with improvements in cybersecurity measures, awareness and technological investment. The Commission nevertheless emphasised the need for continued monitoring, preventive controls and user education because threats continue to evolve.

The same assessment gave the communications sector an overall cybersecurity rating of 577.5, placing it within the report's basic security posture category. Uganda Communications Commission noted the continued need for stronger governance, collaboration, cybersecurity awareness and capacity building. 

The threat environment is also changing rapidly. During the 2024/25 financial year, the most prevalent malware identified by the Commission differed from that of the previous year, illustrating how malicious software and attack techniques evolve. The Commission specifically highlighted risks connected with malware, botnets, phishing, malicious downloads, compromised devices and unsafe user behaviour. This is important because many digital incidents begin with ordinary human interactions rather than highly sophisticated attacks.

Digital safety therefore needs to combine technology, behaviour and support systems.Rural Smiles Foundation focuses on practical digital-security knowledge that people can apply in their everyday lives. This includes strengthening account security, encouraging multi-factor authentication, helping users recognise phishing and suspicious links, improving password practices, securing devices, strengthening privacy settings, promoting safer information sharing and developing organisational practices for protecting sensitive information.