Dr. Vincent Olatunji, the National Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), has ordered an investigation into an alleged data privacy violation complaint against the University of Lagos (UNILAG), Lotus Bank, and Hackerbella Ltd.
The Commission, in a statement signed by its Head of Legal, Enforcement and Regulation of NDPC, Babatunde Bamigboye, on Thursday, disclosed that the probe follows complaints that student data was used to open bank accounts without permission. The data sharing was reportedly part of a “Smart ID Card” project that mixed student IDs with bank cards.
The investigation will also check if the institutions properly assessed risks before using the data. The NDPC said it wants to make sure student rights were protected and that the data was not kept longer than necessary.
All three organizations will be closely examined to find out who was responsible for the privacy breach.
The NDPC is the primary statutory body responsible for regulating data privacy, protecting personal information, and enforcing the Nigeria Data Protection Act (NDPA). It acts as the national data watchdog to secure citizens’ digital rights and build trust in the digital economy.
In a customer review published by Consumer Paddy, it was noted that the Commission, based on trends, is more interested in pursuing complaints that put their names on newspaper headlines. A complaint lodged by an ISP customer has to date not been investigated.
We continue to wonder if this data privacy Czar is blind to typical Nigerians’ complaints or just selective and more interested in solely pursuing complaints with potential newspaper headlines.
