According to the Nigerian Data Protection Commission (NDPC), it looks into the alleged data breach and three banks, a university, and other suspects.
Unauthorised access to private data is a data breach.
For the interaction, the commission listed Zenith, Fidelity, Guarantee Trust Banks, Babcock University, Leadway Insurance, etc..
In a statement on Thursday, NDPC national commissioner Vincent Olatunji made this disclosure.
Mr Olatunji claimed that concerns from data subjects prompted the investigation. He explained that the commission now had a legal framework to address problems with citizen data breaches thanks to the new Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA).
“In the last few weeks, the NDPC has received complaints bordering on unlawful data processing, unauthorised access to personal data and violation of data subjects’ rights,” stated the NDPC chief. “Under Part 10 of the newly signed NDPA 2023, a data controller with a turnover of N200 billion yearly may pay as high as N2 billion, representing two per cent of the gross revenue.”
He added, “Not only that, but offenders risk up to a one-year jail term. We are currently investigating Guarantee Trust Bank, Fidelity, Unity Bank, Zenith Bank, Leadway Insurance and Babcock University, among others, for a data breach.”
He claims that many microfinance institutions must connect their business practices with data privacy and protection regulations.
He added that the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission’s new authority would subject lending institutions to the law.
Before licencing online lenders, Mr Olatunji claimed that the mission required loan firms to obtain compliance and clearance from NDPC.
“The commission is investigating over 400 complaints in the online lending sector. Soko Loan is already working on a comeback to the digital lending market, but it is yet to be approved,” said the commissioner.
However, he said that the commission was conducting awareness campaigns to ensure data controllers were aware of the consequences of a data breach.
The national commissioner claims that the NDPC emphasises raising public awareness more than applying harsh penalties.
