Harnessing AI to Revolutionise Personal Data Protection and Privacy in Tanzania: A Scoping Review of Challenges and Opportunities

ABSTRACT

This scoping review examined the dual role of artificial intelligence (AI) in personal data protection and privacy, with particular attention to its implications for Tanzania. The review followed the Arksey and O'Malley framework and the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta‐Analyses extension for Scoping Reviews. Searches of Google Scholar, PubMed, ACM Digital Library, IEEE Xplore and Scopus identified 127 eligible publications issued between 2019 and October 2025. Inductive thematic synthesis identified twelve challenges and six opportunities associated with AI‐enabled personal data processing. A context‐specific assessment prioritised data breaches and misuse, regulatory gaps, inadequate consent, limited transparency and weak accountability as the most urgent risks for Tanzania. The feasibility assessment indicated that automated data classification, conventional anonymisation and anomaly detection may be suitable for near‐term adoption, whereas computationally intensive privacy‐enhancing technologies—including homomorphic encryption and secure multiparty computation—require specialised expertise, infrastructure and phased piloting. The evidence was largely drawn from high‐income and multinational studies, with no study directly examining Tanzania; therefore, applicability to Tanzania was considered conditional. The review proposes a five‐phase implementation roadmap with key stakeholders, timelines and indicators. The findings support AI‐specific regulation, institutional capacity building, sector‐based pilots and locally grounded empirical research.