TheNewsGuru

Tag: Vincent Olatunji

  • New CBN policy raises data privacy concerns

    New CBN policy raises data privacy concerns

    The Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC) says it engaging the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) on its new directives to commercial banks to collect their customers’ social media handles.

    The National Commissioner of NDPC, Dr Vincent Olatunji, said this in a statement issued by Mr Itunu Dosekun, Head of Media, on Thursday in Abuja.

    Recall that the CBN on June 26, directed banks to obtain the social media handles of customers as part of enhanced Customer Due Diligence (CDD) regulations.

    Olatunji said that before the establishment of the Nigerian Data Protection Act (NDPA), on June 12, indiscriminate collection of citizens’ data by Data Controller Organisations was not taken seriously.

    He explained that there were prerequisite steps any Data Controller must take prior to the collection of data from data subjects.

    He also said that any organisation that defaulted was going against the law and causing a data breach, as well as would attract fine.

    “There are provisions in the law to go against any data controller be it private or government office, NGOs, hotels, because we are pro-citizens.

    “The whole idea of this law is to protect the rights, the interests of Nigerians who are data subjects.

    “We are already engaging with the CBN to let them know that what they have done is against the law because there are basic principles you must meet when you want to collect citizens’ data.

    “There is data minimisation, meaning you don’t collect data beyond the purpose for which it was intended, purpose limitation, what purpose is it for,’’ he explained.

    According to him, asking for social media handles is not necessary.

    He, however, said that if the collection of the social media handles happened under public interest, which could include to monitor some transactions, there should be proper awareness to the customers.

    Olatunji added that they would be inquiring on why the CDD regulation came up and how best to resolve that in line with global best practices.

    On the issue of government tapping into some citizens’ mobile communications, perhaps for national security, among other reasons, Olatunji said that there were guidelines to follow.

    He said the commission would be engaging with a lot of government institutions, data controllers, to sensitise them on the requirements of the NDPA and data collection prerequisites.

  • GTBank, Zenith Bank in trouble over alleged data breach

    GTBank, Zenith Bank in trouble over alleged data breach

    The Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) has commenced an investigation into allegations of data breach against Guarantee Trust Bank (GTBank) and Zenith Bank.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Mr Babatunde Bamigboye, Head, Legal Enforcement and Regulations of NDPB said this in a statement issued in Abuja.

    Bamigboye said the investigations were triggered by allegations of unlawful disclosure of banking records to a third party, unlawful access and processing of personal data.

    National Commissioner of NDPB, Dr Vincent Olatunji in the statement said the investigation would cover the data governance practice of the banks in all their branches in Nigeria.

    He said this would extend to all third parties carrying out their data processing activities.

    “The bureau notes with concern that many data privacy and protection regulations and best practices are hardly implemented down to the organizational strata of major data controllers in Nigeria.

    “Similarly, the bureau enjoins rganisations  to heed the Federal Government circulars and general compliance notice directing them to send the names of their Data Protection Officers/Contacts to the Bureau.

    “There are reports by Nigeria Inter Bank Settlement System (NIBSS) which indicated that within nine months of 2020, fraudsters attempted 46,126 attacks and they were successful with 41,979 occasions representing 91 per cent of the time.

    “This level of vulnerability to data breach is unacceptable,” he said.

    According to him, such attacks can only be addressed through foolproof data security and data privacy measures by data controllers,data processors in the industry.

    Olatunji, however, enjoined all financial institutions to emulate the Central Bank of Nigeria in compliance with the Nigeria Data Protection Regulation (NDPR) 2019 by creating a robust data governance system.

    He also called on all organisations to leverage on the ongoing National Privacy Week to set their records straight on how they handle the data of citizens.

    Olatunji added that enforcement measures would be taken against wilful violators of privacy rights going forward.

  • Nigeria Data Protection Bureau hosts national privacy week

    Nigeria Data Protection Bureau hosts national privacy week

    Nigeria will on Saturday 28th of January 2023 join the international community to observe Global Data Privacy Day 2023.

    Global Data Privacy Day is a day set aside to create awareness of fundamental rights and freedoms relating to the privacy of citizens in the data processing ecosystem. 

    In line with the overarching global objective of awareness on data privacy, the Nigeria Data Protection Bureau (NDPB) will be organizing a National Privacy Week.

    It will be a week of intensive focus on awareness creation in the area of data subjects’ rights, capacity building on data governance, data breach remediation among others, according to NDPB.

    The Hon. Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, will flag-off the National Privacy Week with a press conference on the Global Data Privacy Day.

    The National Privacy Week also coincides with the one year anniversary of the establishment of the Bureau. 

    The NDPB under the leadership of Dr. Vincent Olatunji as its National Commission and CEO will set-up an Accelerated Data Breach Remediation unit to resolve petitions from data subjects within the National Privacy Week.