NDPC Slams N400m Fine on 4 Banks, 3 Companies for Data Breaches

Vincent Olatunji

NDPC Fines 4 Banks, 3 Companies N400m for Data Breaches: Regulatory body cracks down on citizen data privacy violations, boosts compliance in public and private sectors, and leads Africa in data protection efforts.

Four banks and three other businesses have been fined a total of N400 million by the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) for violating citizen data privacy.

This was disclosed by NDPC national commissioner Vincent Olatunji on Tuesday, June 12, during a report on the first year of the NDPC Act's implementation.

On June 14, 2023, President Bola Tinubu signed the Nigeria Data Protection Bill into law.

As a replacement for the NDPB, the Act established the NDPC.

The commission is supposed to function independently and safeguard the privacy of the people.

Olatunji states that investigations into breaches involving the data of over a thousand financial institutions, educational institutions, insurance providers, and consulting firms have taken place in the last year.

He added that there are continuing investigations into data violations.

Olatunji emphasized that more people in the public and private sectors are now complying with the Nigeria Data Protection Act as a result of the NDPC's efforts.

“When we started, the levels of compliance within the private sector was about 49 percent while the public sector was 4 percent. But today, private sector compliance is above 55, while the public sector has reached 15 percent,” Olatunji said.

“The nation's data ecosystem is now worth over N10 billion and the commission considers it imperative to ensure that citizens' data are safe, secure and protected in line with global best standards and practices.”

He added that as a result of the Data Protection Act of 2023 and the influence of the data ecosystem on the country's economy—nations such as Kenya, Ghana, China, Singapore, and Malaysia, among others—Nigeria is now leading the way in the global data assembly's activities.

He said: “The Data Protection Act 2023 is a major milestone for Nigeria. Mr President laid our apprehension to rest when he signed the Act on June 12, 2023.

“It was a major turnaround for the industry. Now the data ecosystem is beyond everybody because it is a global phenomenon due to the impact of technology.

“And that's why Nigeria was given the hosting right for 2024 All African Data Protection Commission's and Institutions. About 30 countries will be here next year for the event.”

According to Olatunji, in order to guarantee that the parties under their jurisdiction abide by the Data Protection Act, the NDPC now works in conjunction with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), and other regulatory bodies.

He pointed out that the ecosystem's compliance has greatly increased as a result of stakeholder involvement, awareness initiatives, and capacity building.

Olatunji added that the commission has worked with the CBN, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offenses Commission (ICPC), and other regulatory bodies to oversee the operations of digital lending platforms.

The national commissioner stressed that continuous education efforts will be carried out to inform susceptible Nigerians who, as a result of their ignorance, become victims of loan sharks.

A thorough crackdown on digital loan sharks would be difficult given the country's enormous population and landmass, he continued, since many of them operate from isolated or remote locations without established addresses.