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The National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) are in partnership to go after money lending companies including loan apps and online loan providers increasingly abusing the data privacy rights of their clients.
“Section 17(a) of the FCCPA, 2019 empowers the Commission to administer and enforce provisions of every Nigerian law with respect to competition and protection of consumers.
“NITDA has therefore found the FCCPC as a key stakeholder in its efforts to rein in the activities of some micro-money lenders who have formed a penchant for abuse of personal data of Nigerians. These operators execute this by abusing their personal data, breaching their privacy and sharing it with others who are not part of the initial contract,” said Head of Corporate Affairs and External Relations at NITDA, Hadiza Umar, in a statement issued this weekend in Abuja.
She revealed that the “agency has received over 40 petitions from members of the public on the personal data abuse of some lending companies. Our investigation led to the imposition of Ten million naira (N10,000,000) fine and other administrative sanctions on Soko Lending Company.”
The antics of loan app providers to recover their uncollateralized facilities often by resorting to harass those on the contact list of alleged loan defaulters with ‘shame- messages’ – a breach of data privacy rights has become worrisome to many stakeholders.
Just last week, a motion to checkmate the privacy abuse of online loan providers was moved in the House of Representatives by Hon. Akin Alabi (representing Egbeda/Ona Ara Federal constituency). The lawmakers accused loan app operators of “total disregard” for the provisions of the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR), the country’s principal legislation on personal data.
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NITDA and FCCPC have warned they will come hard on loan providers that have gone rogue abusing the data privacy of their clients.
“As an agency focused on using its mandate to empower Nigerians and make them active players in the digital economy, NITDA is very concerned about the worrisome effect the nefarious activities of the money lending companies is having on families, friends, and the society at large. Some of the complainants had contemplated suicide, indicating that government needed to do more to protect vulnerable Nigerians,” Umar stressed in the NITDA’s statement.
“The partnership with FCCPC will lead to a more robust and concerted regulatory approach which we believe would ensure that Nigerians get necessary reprieve from the illegal use of their personal data for money lending operations. The partnership would entail joint investigations, enforcement and possible prosecution.
“We therefore use this medium to inform all money lending operators and other data controllers and processors that NITDA is set to enforce the privacy right of Nigerians in line with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019. Controllers and Processors who seek guidance on Compliance with the NDPR should contact NITDA licensed Data Protection Compliance Organizations (DPCO),” she added.
