WorldRisk

Which passport do you hold?

Risk to a traveller depends on their nationality. A country that sanctions your destination, or is sanctioned by it, changes how you are treated on arrival. Choosing here adjusts every score on the site.

We hold travel advice written for four nationalities so far. Selecting anything else shows the neutral baseline, and every page says so where it applies rather than presenting it as an assessment made for you.

Kept in your browser only. Nothing is sent anywhere, and you can change it at any time from the header.

All countries

Uganda

62High62 of 100, High band, 50 to 74good confidence(7/7 dimensions)
What this score means
Extreme75 to 100
Severe and systematic. Device search, interception and detention over online activity are documented rather than theoretical. Reconsider what you carry and what you say.
High50 to 74
Substantial and consistently evidenced measures. Device inspection, monitored networks or restricted services should be expected rather than treated as unlikely.
Caution25 to 49
Some risk, and manageable with precautions. Measures are evidenced but are narrow, inconsistently applied, or the picture is mixed.
Low0 to 24
Ordinary precautions. No systematic device search, network restriction or prosecution of visitors for online speech is evidenced.

Government travel advice is written for one citizenry, so the same country carries a different assessment depending on your passport. Change it in the header.

Showing the baseline, which weights every issuer equally. No government in our corpus publishes travel advice written for you, so this is not addressed to you specifically.

Dimensions

Each dimension is scored independently, because the traveller who cares about legal exposure for what they have posted is often not the one carrying client data. Higher means more risk.

Surveillance and interception

How comprehensively are communications intercepted, retained, and monitored, and is commercial spyware in use?

78Extreme78 of 100, Extreme band, 75 to 100

good confidence7 independent sourcesEvidence is ageing: contributing sources are weighted at 53% of full strength.

Why this score (10 sources)

  • Freedom House 2026 scored UGA 2 of 4 on freedom to express personal views on sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored UGA 1.04 of 4 on how comprehensively the government monitors social media and private online communication, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored UGA 1.17 of 4 on how far privacy protection law shields communications from government access, where higher is freer. This measures what privacy law permits rather than what monitoring is practised, so it is read here as a constraint on interception rather than a measurement of it.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • The World Justice Project Rule of Law Index 2025 scored UGA 0.06 of 1 on whether freedom from arbitrary interference with privacy is effectively guaranteed, a measure built from expert assessments of warrantless interception of communications.

    World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6 · observed 2025-01-01

  • Uganda is ranked as “Partly Free” by Freedom House’s annual Freedom on the Net report , with the biggest contributing factor being the repressive laws governing the digital civic space and surveillance, particularly those that enable internet censorship, network disruptions, and deployment of surveillance technologies such as spyware and video surveillance.

    CIPESA, via a site scoped search · observed 2024-07-10 · extracted by language model

  • Notably, Uganda does not have a law or regulations governing CCTV/ video surveillance.

    CIPESA, via a site scoped search · observed 2024-08-12 · extracted by language model

  • In November 2023, Uganda launched its Intelligent Transport Monitoring System, which uses Closed Circuit Television (CCTV) cameras to track the real-time location of all vehicles in the country, with concerns over the potential of this technology to undermine the human rights of citizens in Uganda.

    Paradigm Initiative, via a site scoped search · observed 2024-01-29 · extracted by language model

  • Meanwhile, the Regulation of Interception of Communications Act (RICA) enacted in 2010, requires telecommunication service providers in section 8(1)(b) to aid interception of communications by installing hardware and software, which are essentially AI manned.

    CIPESA, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-09-03 · extracted by language model

  • In our analysis of documented human rights violations that took place under the AHA from May 2023 and March 2025 , we found that the digital evidence law enforcement has obtained through entrapment has played an influential role in the charging of people suspected of homosexuality.

    Access Now feed · observed 2025-05-15 · extracted by language model

  • Notably, two months earlier, he had publicly shared a warning from Apple alerting him to a possible hacking attempt using mercenary spyware allegedly deployed by state actors against journalists and activists.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2025-10-28 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Speech and legal exposure

What legal risk attaches to what I have said online, or say while I am there?

77Extreme77 of 100, Extreme band, 75 to 100

good confidence10 independent sources

Why this score (13 sources)

  • Freedom House 2026 scored UGA 2 of 4 on freedom to express personal views on sensitive topics without fear of surveillance or retribution.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • Freedom House 2026 scored UGA 1 of 4 on free and independent media.

    Freedom House, Freedom in the World · observed 2026-01-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored UGA 2.21 of 4 on how routinely the government censors political content on social media, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored UGA 0.64 of 4 on how often people are arrested for political content they posted online, where higher is freer.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • Uganda - Level 4: Do Not Travel

    US Department of State, Travel Advisories · observed 2026-06-04 · written for USA nationals

  • FCDO advice for Uganda: no advisory against travel in force.

    UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Foreign travel advice · observed 2026-10-08 · written for GBR nationals

  • Uganda: Avoid non-essential travel

    Global Affairs Canada, Travel advice and advisories · observed 2026-10-13 · written for CAN nationals

  • Uganda: No travel warning in force

    Auswärtiges Amt, Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise · observed 2026-10-09 · written for DEU nationals

  • The forced closures followed posts on social media platform X on June 27 by Kainerugaba, son of Uganda’s president, announcing the shutdown of the NTV and Daily Monitor offices.

    Committee to Protect Journalists, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-06-29 · extracted by language model

  • But even on TikTok or X, which are still allowed in the country, there is the likelihood that you will be arrested for expressing views considered offensive (particularly towards members of the first family – the family of the president) or deemed hateful (usually to members of Museveni’s sub-tribe or tribe , Banyankole, who hold many top positions across multiple sectors in the country).

    Index on Censorship, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-04-01 · extracted by language model

  • Laws were passed to restrict artistic expression, colloquially referred to as “anti-Bobi Wine laws”.

    Index on Censorship, via a site scoped search · observed 2026-01-25 · extracted by language model

  • Under section 26 of the Computer Misuse Act, it is an offence to “…share any information through a computer, which is likely to- (a) ridicule, degrade, or demean another person, group of persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion, or gender; (b) create divisions among persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion, or gender; or (c) promote hostility against a person, group of persons, a tribe, an ethnicity, a religion or gender.”

    CIPESA, via a site scoped search · observed 2025-04-28 · extracted by language model

  • On 3rd October 2025, two Kenyan human rights activists, Bob Njagi and Nicholas Oyoo, were reportedly abducted by armed men in Uganda while attending an opposition campaign event for NUP leader Bobi Wine.

    CIVICUS Monitor country updates · observed 2025-10-28 · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

4 excluded sources
  • CIVICUS Monitor country updates, observed 2021-07-01: aged out after 5 years.
  • CIVICUS Monitor country updates, observed 2022-07-01: aged out after 4 years.
  • Committee to Protect Journalists, via a site scoped search, observed 2022-07-01: aged out after 4 years.
  • ARTICLE 19, via a site scoped search, observed 2023-01-20: aged out after 4 years.

Data jurisdiction

What happens to corporate or client data I carry into the jurisdiction?

67High67 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

moderate confidence1 independent source

Why this score (1 source)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Connectivity continuity

How likely am I to lose access to the internet, or to the specific tools I depend on?

62High62 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

good confidence13 independent sources

Why this score (51 sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

1 excluded source
  • Committee to Protect Journalists, via a site scoped search, observed 2021-07-01: aged out after 5 years.

Network threat

How hostile is the network environment to a foreign visitor, from state actors and criminals alike?

57High57 of 100, High band, 50 to 74

moderate confidence3 independent sources

Why this score (3 sources)

  • ITU Global Cybersecurity Index 2024, Technical pillar: 18.21 of 20.

    International Telecommunication Union, Global Cybersecurity Index · observed 2024-12-31

  • Freedom House scored Uganda 15 of 25 on obstacles to access in Freedom on the Net, a category covering state control over internet infrastructure and gateways, regulatory and ownership control over service providers, and the independence of the regulator.

    Freedom House, Freedom on the Net, obstacles to access · observed 2025-01-01

  • 中には路上で「お土産に」と称して近寄ってきた売り子から、偽物と承知した上で購入した「金（ゴールド）」を巡り、逮捕・勾留された事案も報告されており、これらはウガンダの近隣国も巻き込んだ、金の売人、警察、空港関係者、携帯電話職員（盗聴係）、裁判官、弁護士、政治家などによって構成された「罠」として、いたる場所で外国人旅行者を狙っています。

    Our translation: There have also been reported cases in which people were arrested and detained over “gold” purchased from vendors who approached them on the street claiming it was a “souvenir,” despite knowing it was fake, and these target foreign travellers everywhere as a “trap” made up of gold dealers, police, airport personnel, mobile-phone staff (wiretappers), judges, lawyers and politicians, also involving Uganda’s neighbouring countries.

    Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Overseas travel safety information · observed 2026-10-16 · written for JPN nationals · extracted by language model

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Border device risk

How likely is my device to be searched, imaged, or seized at the border, and can I be compelled to unlock it?

46Caution46 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

good confidence5 independent sources

No reports were found of devices being searched, imaged or seized at this border, or of travellers being compelled to unlock them. The score below is drawn from general indicators for this country rather than from anything observed about this risk, so it describes an absence of reports rather than evidence that the risk is absent.

What the score rests on (5 indirect sources)

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Encryption and VPN legality

Are VPNs and strong encryption lawful, and can I be required to install an application or hand over keys?

36Caution36 of 100, Caution band, 25 to 49

moderate confidence3 independent sources

Why this score (3 sources)

  • Some restrictions. In Uganda, the security and law enforcement agencies can impose “disclosure requirements” to persons in respect of encrypted information where they believe that a key to encrypted information is in the possession of that person, and that a disclosure requirement is necessary for in the interests of national security, to prevent or detect a criminal offence which puts a person’s life at risk, to prevent or detect an offence of drug trafficking or human trafficking, or in the interests of the country’s economic wellbeing.

    Global Partners Digital, World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies · observed 2019-06-01

  • V-Dem Digital Society Project 2025 scored UGA 1.62 of 4 on whether the government regulates the internet in a way consistent with international human rights standards, where higher is freer. This does not establish whether encryption or VPN use is lawful. It measures internet regulation in general, and is used as indirect evidence because the only survey that reads encryption law directly was published in 2019.

    V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project · observed 2025-12-31

  • OONI recorded no confirmed blocking across 3,131 measurements of anonymity and censorship circumvention tools in UGA over the 90 days to 2026-10-16, with 75 further results inconclusive.

    Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data · observed 2026-10-16

Report an inaccuracy (corrections need a link to the reporting, statute or research that shows it).

Trend

02550751002026-08-162026-10-16

The overall score is up 9.6 points over 61 days, from 52.1 to 61.7. Most movement is the event overlay decaying rather than anything happening: a news signal loses half its weight every three weeks, so a score drifts back toward its structural baseline on its own. A step that holds is the one worth reading.

Check this yourself

These are not inputs to the score for Uganda. They are where to look if you want to test what is above against something we did not use.

Sources

This assessment draws on 21 sources: Access Now feed; Auswärtiges Amt, Reise- und Sicherheitshinweise; CIPESA, via a site scoped search; CIVICUS Monitor country updates; Committee to Protect Journalists, via a site scoped search; Freedom House, Freedom in the World; Freedom House, Freedom on the Net, obstacles to access; Georgia Tech Internet Intelligence Lab, Internet Outage Detection and Analysis; Global Affairs Canada, Travel advice and advisories; Global Partners Digital, World Map of Encryption Laws and Policies; Index on Censorship, via a site scoped search; International Telecommunication Union, Global Cybersecurity Index; Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan, Overseas travel safety information; Multiple, via Google News, Google News search results; MyJoyOnline, via a site scoped search; Open Observatory of Network Interference, OONI measurement data; Paradigm Initiative, via a site scoped search; UK Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, Foreign travel advice; US Department of State, Travel Advisories; V-Dem Institute, University of Gothenburg, Digital Society Project; World Justice Project, Rule of Law Index, sub-factor 4.6. Every contributing claim is quoted with its origin and date above. Model version 0.12.0, computed 2026-10-16.

If something here is wrong, say so. Corrections are handled in public, and we correct because the evidence is wrong, not because someone objects.