The importance of studying data privacy law with a global, comparative perspective has been highlighted quite often in recent years. To enable further research with such a holistic approach, it is essential that we have sufficient literature on how regional, national and even local data protection laws are legislated and enforced. The publication of African Data Privacy Laws, edited by Alex B. Makulilo, and Data Protection Law in Ireland, authored by Paul Lambert, represents the latest efforts in this area for readers in the English-speaking world. Both titles have brought in some fresh ideas on the ways data protection laws have been developing around the world in different manners. It should not be too surprising that Ireland and African countries have distinct histories and hence have followed distinct pathways towards their own data protection regimes. Yet, what I had not expected from reading through the two books back to back was a sense of similarity, and that was quite an interesting experience itself. Before making comparison between them, however, each of the two books deserves a proper introduction. African Data Privacy Laws comprises three parts: The first part (Chapter 1) serves as an introductory overview of the context of data privacy in Africa; the second part (Chapters 2–18) forms the main body of the book, spanning 17 chapters on the data protection systems in 20 African jurisdictions; the third part (Chapter 19) concludes the book with some forward-looking remarks on the future of data protection in Africa. There are a number of interesting points picked up in Chapter 1 that are particularly useful in making sense of some fundamental concepts of data protection in an African context. For instance, it is believed that ‘the core values of the African society are . . . communalism and interdependence’, which has profound implications

中文翻译：

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《非洲数据隐私法》，由Alex B. Makulilo编辑爱尔兰的《数据保护法：来源和问题》（第二版），保罗·兰伯特（Paul Lambert）

近年来，以全球性的，比较性的观点研究数据隐私法的重要性已被经常强调。为了通过这种整体方法进行进一步的研究，至关重要的是，我们必须有足够的文献来研究如何立法和执行区域，国家甚至本地的数据保护法律。由保罗·兰伯特（Paul Lambert）撰写的《非洲数据隐私法》（由Alex B. Makulilo编辑）和《爱尔兰数据保护法》（Data Protection Law in Ireland）代表了英语领域读者在此领域的最新努力。这两个书名都以各种不同的方式为全球范围内的数据保护法发展提供了一些新思路。爱尔兰和非洲国家有着不同的历史，因此沿着各自的道路迈向自己的数据保护制度，这并不奇怪。但是，我从背靠背阅读两本书中没有想到的是一种相似的感觉，而那本身就是相当有趣的经历。但是，在对它们进行比较之前，应该对这两本书进行适当的介绍。《非洲数据隐私法》包括三部分：第一部分（第1章）概述了非洲的数据隐私环境；第二部分（第2-18章）构成本书的主体，涵盖20个非洲辖区中有关数据保护系统的17章；第三部分（第19章）以对非洲数据保护未来的一些前瞻性评论作为本书的结尾。在第1章中有很多有趣的观点，这些观点对于理解非洲背景下数据保护的一些基本概念特别有用。例如，人们认为“非洲社会的核心价值观是……。。。社区主义和相互依存”